


Our Little Corner of the World, Volume 3

by Ultra



Series: The Runaways 'Verse [25]
Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: Alternate Universe, Awkward Crush, Baby Names, Babysitting, Birthday, Books, Breaking Up & Making Up, Brother-Sister Relationships, Children, Children of Characters, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fights, Firefly References, First Crush, First Meetings, First Time, Future, Future Fic, Gen, Graduation, Grandchildren, Grandmothers, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Growing Up, Happy, High School, Journalism, Kissing, Love, Married Couple, Matchmaking, Meet the Family, Memories, Mother-Son Relationship, New Years, Normal Life, Old Married Couple, Older Characters, One Big Happy Family, Pregnancy, Protectiveness, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Romance, Sex, Small Towns, Surprises, Teenagers, Understanding, Unplanned Pregnancy, Weddings, Women Being Awesome, Workplace Relationship, Writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 41,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25954189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: A third collection of one-shots showing various moments throughout the lives of Rory, Jess, Jack, Tori, Luke, Lorelai, Billy, Liz, TJ, Doula, Lane, Zack, Steve, Kwan, Sookie, Jackson, Davey, Martha, Jaime, Emily, Richard, April, Dax, Alex, Tara, Paris, Doyle, Eva, Jonathan, et al.
Relationships: April Nardini/Original Male Character, Emily Gilmore/Richard Gilmore, Jackson Belleville/Sookie St. James, Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore, Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Paris Geller/Doyle McMaster, Rory Gilmore/Jess Mariano
Series: The Runaways 'Verse [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/676556
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Wedding Belle - 1st June 2029

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ('Wedding Belle' originally written for jordana60)

“I have had that ridiculous June Bride song from _Seven Brides for Seven Brothers_ stuck in my head all day and, even though I know I also got married in June back in the day, I’m still blaming you,” said Lorelai as she sat down next to her granddaughter with a thud. “Seriously, kid, you couldn’t’ve gotten married in any other month?”

“Sorry, no.” Tori grinned at her. “The deal was, I graduate, Dax puts the ring on my finger, case closed,” she said, showing off the golden band that was now sat next to her sparkling diamond engagement ring.

“Yeah, I guess it’s official.” Lorelai sighed, taking a hold of Tori’s hand and staring at her third finger. “Wow. You’re married. My little granddaughter, married. God, I’m so old.”

“You are not.” Tori giggled, finding the concept so insane. “I actually don’t think you’ll ever seem old to me,” she said then, remarkably serious for someone who had been laughing so hard a moment before.

“And this is why you’re my favourite,” her grandma told her, hugging her close, yet mindful of crushing any part of the fabulous dress she was wearing. “So, you’re happy, right?”

“So happy,” she promised, nodding her head. “Shouldn’t every bride be so happy on their wedding day?”

“They should, I just don’t know that they always are. I know I was.” Lorelai grinned, looking across the marquee at where her husband stood talking with April and Jess. “I sure did wait a long time for my big day, but when it came around... God, that was special.”

“I wish I’d been there.” Tori sighed. “Jack got to be there.”

“Honey, he was two months old,” Lorelai reminded her. “Really don’t think he remembers. Besides, I don’t actually think it’s normal for a kid to be at their grandparents wedding.”

“Since when was our family normal?”

“I’ll second that,” said Rory as she came to join her mom and daughter. “Pretty sure we decided a loooong time ago that normal was over-rated.”

“Amen, sister-friend,” Lorelai agreed, raising her hand to high-five with Rory who didn’t leave her hanging. “But look at us now,” she said then, smiling at her daughter and granddaughter. “Three old married ladies around the table.”

“She seems pretty stuck on this ‘old’ thing.” Tori rolled her eyes as she looked to her mom. “I can’t seem to make her stop.”

Rory laughed. “You know, mom, however old we all are, Grandma is always older.”

“Ooh, I like that!” Lorelai said giddily, clapping her hands like an excited child. “Hey, babe, guess what?” she said to Luke as he and Jess wandered over to join them. “I’m not old, but my mom is. Isn’t that great?”

“Yes?” he ventured, clearly feeling like he turned over two pages at once.

“See, this is how you train a husband,” his wife told Tori proudly.

“Yes, Dax is so well-trained, he’s actually disappeared,” Jess pointed out, as all eyes searched the marquee for the groom.

“I know exactly where he is,” Tori assured them all. “His aunt got a little... _over-emotional_ ,” she said, with a specific gesture of her hand. “So, he took her into the house to get some coffee.”

“Ah, that aunt.” Rory nodded in understanding. “Louise told me about her. She gets over-emotional on a pretty regular basis. Spends almost all her money on being over-emotional.”

“Geez, and you invited her to a wedding with an open bar?”

“I didn’t.” Tori shook her head. “Dax did, but only because he knew it’s what his mom would’ve wanted. I couldn’t exactly argue with that.”

Nobody seemed willing to disagree, but conversation came to kind of a grinding halt from there, at least until the music changed.

“Oh my God, you did this on purpose!” Lorelai gasped as the very particular guitar stylings of Chuck Berry came flooding from the speakers. “You did, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t actually.” Tori shook her head, eyes searching the crowds once again. “I let Dax figure out a lot of the music choices, and Kwan pitched in, obviously, but I don’t... Jack!” she said suddenly, catching his eyes across the dancefloor.

“Jack, did you do this?” Rory asked as her son crossed the space to come over to them all. “Did you...?”

“I didn’t exactly do it. I may have suggested to Dax... well, you know, a little something to remind us, since he can’t be here today,” he said, deliberately not actually saying the words ‘great grandpa’ or the name ‘Richard’, clearly knowing it would cause much in the way of tears and make-up malfunctions if he did.

“Good job, brother,” Tori told him with a shaky smile as she got to her feet and threw her arms around him, hugging him tight.

“Well, for as long as Johnny’s being good, I say we dance,” Lorelai declared, grabbing Luke’s hand and dragging him so hard he almost spilled his drink, though he didn’t argue.

“That means us too, right?” Jess realised, offering a hand to Rory who went willingly into his arms to dance too.

“You too grown-up to dance with your brother these days?” Jack asked Tori.

“I am not,” she assured him, happy to go and dance like a lunatic with her big brother, just as she had when their great grandpa played this song to them so many years ago.

Of course, when the music changed from Chuck Berry to something slow and smoochy, it wasn’t exactly appropriate for Jack and Tori to continue dancing together. Instead, he went in search of food and she went in search of her new husband, who really should be back by now. Instead, she found another guy, holding out a glass of champagne for her at the edge of the dancefloor.

“Hey, and thanks,” she said, accepting it easily, clinking her glass against his own and drinking just a sip. “I really should go easy on this, but everywhere I turn, someone puts a glass in my hand today.”

“It still blows my mind that you’re old enough to drink now.” Matthew shook his head. “And that you’re married, before me. I mean what is up with that?”

Tori laughed. “I’d apologise, but I don’t really think it’s my fault.”

“Oh, come on, are you serious?” he checked, nudging her shoulder with his own. “I’ve never been the same since you turned me down when I proposed to you.”

“What?” Tori’s eyes went wide with surprise at that remark and she stared at Matthew for a long moment, trying to figure out what he meant. “Seriously, what are you talking about?”

“You don’t remember?” he checked. “Well, you were only, like, four at the time. It was the first time your dad ever brought you to Truncheon. He had to talk to Chris, so he left you with me. I was terrified by the way, I never watched a kid in my life before, but you were cool, and a lot less scary than most females I tried to have conversations with back then. When Jess and Chris caught up to us, I forget what we were talking about, but I said when you grow up would you marry me, and you said, no,” he recalled with a wry smile.

“Wow. I had good taste even then,” Tori deadpanned, laughing loudly when he faked being shot through the heart. “Come on, you know I’m kidding.”

Matthew sighed. “All I know is that Dax is very a lucky man, as is your dad, and your grandfather, and most of the guys here that are married or engaged to really amazing women,” he said, looking all around. “I guess it just doesn’t happen for everybody.”

Tori felt so bad for him being one of the few that was all alone. The moment she noticed Dax returning to the reception, with his now somewhat more sober aunt on his arm, her smile returned.

“Hey, why don’t you ask Aunt Meryl to dance.”

“Aunt Meryl?” Matthew checked, turning to look where Tori was pointing.

“You’d like to dance, right, Meryl?” she said the moment the older woman was within earshot. “Because my friend Matt here would love to ask you.”

A minute later, the pair were out on the dancefloor, looking pretty awkward, but neither so lonely as they had been before as they danced together. Dax put his arm around Tori and kissed her temple.

“Well, that was some serious meddling of the misguided kind,” he told her, smiling fondly at her shocked expression. “Come on, that has disaster written all over it,” he said of Matt and Meryl. “He’s desperate, she’s drunk.”

“But they’re both smiling,” Tori pointed out. “And they’re here, amongst friends and family, so they’re perfectly safe. This is a good place to be,” she reminded him, turning into his arms and pulling him into a good long kiss. “Mmm, hey, Mr Cooper.”

“Hey, Mrs Cooper,” he replied, grinning as much as she was. “So, no regrets?”

“Why would I have regrets? I just married the hottest guy here,” she told him happily. “Successful up and coming businessman who also plays drums in a killer rockband, who gets along with my family and thinks I’m the best person in the whole world. I’d be crazy not to be happy about marrying you.”

“Yeah, I’ll agree with that,” Dax said too seriously, laughing in the next moment as Tori socked him in the shoulder. “Like you’re not pretty amazing yourself, Victoria Lorelai Cooper,” he said, pushing her hair back from her face and looking into her eyes. “You know, as corny as it sounds, I’m pretty sure I have been in love with you since the first moment I saw you in the Van Gerbigs’ garage.”

“I’ll bet you say that to all the girls,” she teased, the two of them laughing at how crazy that sounded. “Seriously though, as great as it was to think I was in love back then, I never could’ve imagined all this,” Tori admitted, making vague gestures towards the whole situation that was their wedding reception. “We made it, Dax. We’re married, isn’t that crazy?”

“The craziest,” he admitted, “but I couldn’t be happier.”

“Me either,” she agreed as they both leaned in for another kiss.

Over on the dancefloor, Rory lifted her head from Jess’ shoulder, grinning as she watched her daughter and new son-in-law kissing a moment.

“Can you believe that?” she asked her husband, getting his attention on the scene she was observing. “Our little girl, all grown up and married. Kind of weird.”

“I don’t know.” Jess shook his head. “At her age, we were already married with two kids,” he reminded her. “I never saw that coming when we met either, but I think it all worked out pretty well.”

“It worked out so well,” Rory agreed, grinning at him. “And to think, none of us would be here like this if I hadn’t come to find you in New York all those years ago. Tori wouldn’t be here, neither would Jack. Our whole lives could be totally different.”

“And that would suck,” Jess said definitely.

“Oh, yeah,” Rory agreed heartily, as they continued to dance, alongside so many family and friends, into the night.


	2. The Family Hour - 9th February 2008

“And you’re sure you’ll be okay?”

“Rory, for the 109th time, yes, I will be absolutely fine,” Jess insisted, practically pushing her out of the door. “I don’t know if you remember this, but I used to look after Jack by myself all the time when he was a baby and you were going to Yale.”

She sighed when she heard that, not any further than the other side of the threshold yet. “I know, but that was different. That was _one_ baby. Now we have two, two babies, Jess, and that’s not easy by yourself.”

“Hey, in case you forgot, Jack is not exactly a baby anymore, are you, champ?” said Jess to the little boy hanging off his pant leg, who dutifully shook his head. “See, this is not a baby, okay?” he said, as he swung Jack up into his arms. “This is a babysitting assistant. Me and Jack, we have it all covered, and Tori will be totally safe and looked after for the few hours it takes you to go figure out Paris’ latest drama. You trust us, right?”

“Of course, I trust you,” Rory insisted. “Both of you, always,” she promised, kissing first Jess’ cheek and then Jack’s head. “I also really, really love you too.”

“Love you, Mommy!” her son insisted, throwing his little arms around her neck and planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

“What he said.” Jess smirked, glad to see Rory looking that much happier as she finally turned to leave.

The moment she was off the porch and he had made sure to wave and get Jack to do the same, Jess stepped back inside and closed the door fast, mindful of Rory changing her mind and trying to come back. She really did need to get out of the house more, become more used to leaving the kids in the hands of somebody else.

Jess wasn’t offended that she was so nervous about leaving her baby girl with anyone, even if it was him. They had come so close to losing Tori, and Rory too, on the day she was born. Honestly, as confident as he made himself appear for his wife’s sake, he was just a little nervous about being in full charge of both kids by himself today.

The moment they were back inside, Jack kicked to be put down and then rushed off to play with his toy cars some more. Jess made sure he was settled then went immediately to Tori’s crib to check on her. Her eyes were still closed but her legs kicked the blanket askew as she presumably dreamed some exciting dream or other. Just looking in on her never failed to bring the widest grin to Jess’ face. His little girl. He loved her so much, just as he loved Jack too. He really never had seen himself as the fatherly type, and yet, he couldn’t imagine life without either of them now.

“Daddy?”

He looked up the second Jack called for him and watched with amusement as the little boy toddled over.

“What’s up, kid?” he asked, crouching down to his level.

“When will Toria play?” asked Jack with wide innocent eyes.

“Ah, well, not for a little while,” he explained, glancing up at the crib. “You know, when you were her age you didn’t exactly play much either. It takes time for babies to get strong enough to sit up by themselves and hold onto toys and everything.”

“But when?” Jack whined.

Jess sighed. “Probably a couple of months yet, buddy, but hey, in the meantime, we can have fun on our own, right? Anything you wanna do, we’ll do.”

“Ooh, play cars!” Jack cheered, rushing back to the rug where he had so many toy cars laid out, along with a track and a bridge and such.

It was no bother to Jess to go lay down on the floor and play cars with his son for a while and they were both happy just doing that for a while. At least, until Tori woke up screaming.

“I gotta go check on your sister, okay, Jack? You just keep on playing.”

Jess rushed over to the crib and scooped up his baby daughter who was howling like the world was ending.

“Okay, okay,” he told her. “It’s all good, Tori, I promise,” he told her, rocking her in his arms.

Checking her over, he was sure she didn’t need changing and she didn’t feel overly hot or look in any way sick. She shouldn’t be hungry either, since Rory had only fed her moments before putting her down for a nap, and that was barely a half hour before she left the house.

“What’s going on, baby?” Jess asked the little one as she continued to wail. “Come on, Daddy doesn’t know what to do for you here.”

It wasn’t as if he didn’t know that kids just bawled sometimes, for no reason anybody could fathom. It was most likely a bad dream or something, but there was always that worry it was something else, something bad, like a symptomless illness or something.

“What’s wrong with Toria?”

Jack’s sudden appearance at his feet, big blue eyes gazing up at Jess and lip trembling, just made him feel worse about the whole situation.

“She just woke up cranky, that’s all,” he said with a forced smile. “She’ll be okay,” he assured his son, continuing to try to comfort Tori.

When he held her closer, Jess realised maybe she did feel kind of warm, though that might just be from all the crying, he supposed. Glancing down at Jack, it was clear the poor kid was close to tears himself. It was stressing him out to see and hear his sister so upset.

“Don’t cry, Toria,” he said sadly, sniffing hard.

Jess just didn’t know how to make them both feel better. He didn’t even know what was going on with Tori, though he was still hoping it was nothing to worry about. Carefully going down onto his knees on the carpet, Jess didn’t really know if he was doing the right thing, but there was a vague chance that maybe Tori would react better to Jack’s voice. At the very least, it might make the little boy feel better to think he was helping in some small way.

“It’s okay,” Jess assured Jack when he looked scared. “You just tell her again not to cry and that we’ll take care of her.”

“’S okay, Toria,” Jack dutifully said, reaching out a very gentle hand to her little head that was turning more and more red with every scream. “All okay. Daddy’s here. Jack’s here. You’re okay, you’re okay,” he intoned, still stroking her head and the little hair she had so far.

It was both a relief and an amazing thing to Jess when he realised it was actually working. He felt the tension start to drain out of Tori’s body and out of his own too as she began to quieten down. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if Jack had comforted her or just made Jess feel better enough himself that his daughter stopped feeling so uncomfortable in his arms. Either way, it was all working out and he couldn’t be happier.

“Well, what do you know?” he said to Jack with a smile. “You’re the baby whisperer.”

“Huh?” said the little boy, clearly not understanding. “I do good?”

“Yeah, buddy, you do real good,” Jess assured him, shifting to sit more comfortably on the floor with Tori in his lap.

Jack shifted to sit by him, close enough to keep on stroking his sister’s head and speaking so softly to her that Jess couldn’t even hear the words anymore. It didn’t matter. Tori was calm again, not ready to go back to sleep, but certainly not unhappy. Her eyes grew wider as she stared at Jack and a smile even came to her lips. Her little arm reached out as if to grab at him and her brother giggled. It was quite literally the cutest thing Jess had ever seen in his life. He could not love these kids more if he tried.

* * *

Hours later, when Rory finally came home, she was just a little worried about the scene that would meet her when she opened the front door. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Jess to take good care of their kids, not at all. He coped so well with Jack and was just great with Tori too, but the fact was, he had never been alone with the two of them, and two kids under three was kind of lot for any person to deal with.

“Hello?” she called softly from the door as she let herself in, mindful of waking anyone who might be sleeping.

When she heard joyful shouting and laughter, she breathed a sigh of relief and moved into the living room, curious to see what was going on. The sight that met her eyes made her glad all over. There was Jess, Jack, and Tori all lying on the floor, the guys on the carpet either side of the baby girl on the rug, and apparently mimicking every little arm and leg flail move she made.

It was all a little silly, as if all three were trying to swim without the water to move through, and yet, it was also incredibly sweet. Rory just stood staring for a good five minutes, before finally her own laughter became loud enough that Jack heard her.

“Mommy!”

He was up off the floor in a heartbeat and running to her, ploughing into her legs and hugging her tightly.

“Hey, baby,” she greeted him, ruffling his hair. “You been having fun with Daddy and Tori?”

“So much fun!” little Jack enthused. “And when Toria was sad, I made it better!”

“Well, that’s great,” said Rory, a little uncertainly, looking to Jess for further explanation.

“Before you have a panic attack, we were fine,” he promised her, picking Tori up from the rug and cradling her in his arms as he came over to his wife. “She woke up kind of cranky, almost screamed the whole house down, but like Jack said, he made it better,” he said, smiling at his son. “Calmed her right down, no problem. He’s the baby whisperer,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Wow. That’s amazing.” Rory smiled, reaching down to pick up Jack and hug him tight. “Who’s Mommy’s clever boy, huh?”

“Jack! Jack!” he said happily, clapping his hands wildly.

Rory laughed, stepping in closer to Jess and looking down at Tori in his arms.

“Hey, beautiful,” she said, tickling the baby with one finger. “You had a good time, huh?”

The little girl soon grabbed a hold of that finger, then laughed and blew a raspberry for good measure.

“Couldn’t haven’t said it better myself, Tor.” Jess chuckled, bouncing her in his arms. “I think we’ve had a pretty successful afternoon.”

“Sounds like it.” Rory smiled. “I’m almost jealous that I wasn’t part of it, but I’m glad it went so well.”

“Me too.” Jess nodded. “For a while there, I’m not too macho to admit I was just a little worried, but Jack got me through, didn’t you, buddy?”

The little boy nodded his head then reached out a hand towards Tori’s own upturned one.

“High five,” he said as they made contact.

Rory and Jess both laughed at that. It certainly seemed like they had nothing to worry about where their little family was concerned. Everybody was getting along pretty well so far, and long may it continue.


	3. Mother Knows Best - 31st December 2026/1st January 2027

It was a weird kind of deja vu moment for Lorelai. Sure, the events were about a million miles apart, and it was her own kid this time, not some punk she only just met, but something chimed in her memory. It was enough to remind her that things weren’t always what they seemed. That, sometimes, underaged boys had their reasons for sneaking out onto the porch with a beer in their hand. That maybe she should ask before assuming she knew.

“Hey.”

The moment she spoke, Billy startled, looking like the usual deer in the headlights that didn’t know where to hide the booze. She probably shouldn’t laugh, but she did.

“At ease, soldier,” she said, waving a hand in some gesture of ‘never mind’ “Unless your dad comes looking for us, you’re cool. After all, it’s New Years, you’re less than five months away from the legal drinking, and honestly, Momma’s not a hypocrite anymore,” she reeled off, moving to come lean on the rail next to her son. “What’s up, kid?”

“That’s a big question,” he said, heaving a sigh, but giving no further answer.

Lorelai opened her mouth to take a guess but then changed her mind. If this wasn’t about the big break-up with Tara, she sure as heck didn’t want to put the thought back in his head. Billy had suffered enough these past couple of months, trying to crawl his way back up from the pit of despair that so often came with a long-term relationship finally dying a death. Of course, Lorelai was having trouble coming up with any other reason for her son looking so melancholy at a pretty slamming party.

“I talked to Tara today,” he said eventually, without the need for further prompting apparently.

“I’m guessing from the less-than happy look, she wasn’t looking to get back together?”

The humourless laugh that escaped Billy’s lips was enough to break her heart, but Lorelai tried to hold in the wince and any comforting words she might want to say. There was so much on his mind, she could practically hear all the cogs turning at double-speed inside his head. He needed to let it out, she just needed to let him.

“It is so stupid, or maybe _I’m_ so stupid,” he declared, moving past her and down to sit on the porch steps, dangling the beer bottle from one hand between his bent knees, not willing or not able to even take a sip apparently. “When she called, I thought maybe... You know, new year, new beginning? Maybe she realised she wanted us to try again. I really am so stupid.”

He face-palmed when he said it, like he was just that dumb, though Lorelai suspected, as she sat down beside him, it was more about hiding his expression, maybe even a few tears, than anything else. Putting her arm around his back, she pulled her baby boy to her and hugged him tight.

“You listen to me, William Danes,” she said firmly, kissing the top of his head. “You are one of the least stupid kids that I know, okay? You are not the first and you won’t be the last person to hope, when an ex calls, that it’s to get back together. We have all been there, I promise you. Me and your dad and your sisters, everybody. It’s just part of the suckage of relationships.”

The phrasing at least got a brief chuckle from her son, but when he lifted his head to look at her, there was still such pain in his eyes.

“Mom,” he said, taking in a shaky breath. “Tara’s pregnant.”

Lorelai felt her eyes grow wide, so much so she was convinced she looked like a cartoon, and any minute now, she was going to have to reach out, pick her eyeballs up off the lawn, and shove them back into her head. Instead, two seconds later, she found herself whipping the beer bottle from Billy’s hand and taking a good long drink.

“Okay, wow,” she said, when she finally came up for air. “Um... Yeah, this doesn’t get any easier.”

Suddenly, she was flashing back more than twenty years, to Rory standing before her in the living room of this very house and confessing that she and Jess were going to be parents real soon, then back further still, to the day she took her own pregnancy test at the tender age of fifteen and found it was positive. At least there was the comfort of knowing those situations had worked out pretty well in the end. Unfortunately, there were no guarantees with this one.

“I’m sorry,” said Billy, so sadly that it snapped Lorelai from her own shocked reverie.

“Sorry? No, honey, you don’t have to be sorry,” she insisted, immediately putting her arm back around him, letting him know there was no blame here. “Hey, come on, we just covered the part where I’m not a hypocrite, right? I never blamed Rory when she came home pregnant at nineteen, and hello, I was the one who had to drop out of high school to have my first kid. Family planning, not a strong suit in the Gilmore line.”

Billy shook his head. “It’s such a mess. I mean, at least Rory and Jess were together when she was gonna have Jack.”

“That’s true,” Lorelai agreed, “but honey, what about me and Christopher? That was so never going to work out, but that doesn’t mean either one of us doesn’t love Rory.”

“Yeah, because he’s such a great father.” Billy rolled his eyes, clearly knowing he couldn’t exactly be in trouble for stating such a truth.

It wasn’t as if it was a secret that Rory looked to Luke and even to Richard as the dad figures in her life, long before she would ever think of Christopher Hayden. Biologically, he was her father, but he really had been pretty darn absent. Lorelai would like to think Billy would do better than that. Within a minute, he was proving her right in her assumption.

“I told her I’d be there. For her, for the baby. Told her I’d drop out of college, if she wanted me to. I could make money or I could stay home with the baby, if she wanted to go to school or work or... I wanted to do that, for both of them. She said no.”

It physically hurt him to say it, Lorelai could see that much and so wished she could take that pain away. Her beloved son, a perfect blend of her and Luke, she just couldn’t love him more, but every time he was just like this, earnest and honest and wanting so badly to be the best he could be, she wished she could. She wished she could love him so much that nothing else mattered, but that wasn’t possible for anyone.

“Honey, you know you are amazing, right?” she told him, swallowing hard to keep her own emotions in check. “I mean, do you even realise how many guys your age, hell, how many guys period, would just run like hell when they found out their girlfriend was pregnant? Especially their _ex_ -girlfriend.”

She heard him snort, felt him try to turn away and wouldn’t let him. Lorelai had her hands on the sides of his head, making him meet her eyes.

“I am serious, Billy,” she swore to him. “You offered that girl everything and I know you, you’ll do it again. You’ll keep on offering anything you can think of to make this better, to make it easier for Tara and better for you too, because that’s the kind of guy you are. Heck, if we didn’t already know whose son you were, you’re proving it in spades, babe,” she said, smiling fondly into his face even as a tear streaked down his cheek. “You are so much like your dad, and that means you will be the most incredible father to this baby, whether you and Tara are together or not.”

Slowly, he nodded his head that was within her hands yet.

“I know I wanna try the best I can,” he admitted, bringing up one hand and wiping it across his face as Lorelai finally let him move freely. “I mean, I love Tara so much, and if she wanted to get back together, I so would, but I really don’t see that happening. She just... she changed so much.”

“Sometimes people do that.” Lorelai nodded her understanding. “And it’s not always their fault and it is absolutely not your fault either, but Billy, honey, what you and Tara do or don’t have, well, I hate to say it, but that really doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is this kid you guys are having. I mean, she is... um, you guys talked about the options, right?”

Lorelai so wished she hadn’t gone down this path but she also knew there wasn’t really any avoiding it. If Tara was dead-set against having Billy back, she could just as easily not want the baby they made together. It would simple her life up, Lorelai was sure, to just remove the complication. As much as she would hate to know a possible grandchild of hers had been eliminated before it was ever born, Lorelai also knew it wasn’t her choice to make. It was something every woman had to decide for herself.

“She’s keeping the baby,” Billy admitted, sniffing hard right after, finding his composure once again. “I didn’t even have to ask, she just told me. She’s having the baby and I can be in his or her life if I want, but that’s it. I keep thinking maybe she’ll change her mind, about me, not the baby,” he clarified, given where the conversation had gone to, “but... I don’t know.”

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a slow sigh, Lorelai put her arm back around Billy’s shoulders just as silence fell over the party inside the house. All of a sudden, a few dozen voices were chanting numbers, down from ten. As they reached one, Lorelai pushed the beer bottle back into her son’s hand and smiled at the surprised look on his face.

“Happy New Year, kid,” she told him, kissing his cheek.

“Happy New Year, Mom,” he told her right back, toasting her with his bottle and taking a long drink. “Wow, so that’s gross,” he said, making a face right after.

The burst of laughter that escaped from Lorelai’s throat was a little strangled, but that was okay. They were both processing a lot here. A new year, a new baby, a child who was well and truly becoming a man now and was going to have to commit to that transition in the next few months if he was going to fulfil his task of being the father his own son or daughter would deserve.

“You know, Rory always told me we had the coolest mom and I never thought for a second that she was wrong,” Billy said then, staring up at the stars above while Lorelai did the same, “but I don’t think I realised just exactly what she meant until now. You could’ve really lost it tonight. I’m still pretty sure Dad is going to nuts when he finds out.”

“You leave your dad to me,” she told him, hugging him one more time and kissing his temple. “He’ll understand, and he’ll support you too, no matter what happens. C’mon, you know he will.”

“I guess.” Billy nodded.

“Of course, I’m always going to be the coolest parent, you know, ever,” Lorelai said definitely, glad to see her son smile and even hear him laugh at that remark, “but you’ll probably be pretty cool too.”

“If I’m half as cool as you mom, I know I’ll be just fine.”


	4. A Thousand Pages - 15th December 2011

Rory was used to Jess not having too much confidence in himself. She didn’t love it, but after a few years of knowing him so well - being his friend, then his girlfriend, then his wife - she knew it was true. He came off so cocky when they were younger, so sure of who and what he was, but she always knew better. Smart as he was, both book-wise and street-wise, Jess had spent a lot of time being put down, treated badly. That had a lasting effect on a kid, even as they became a teenager and then a man.

Rory really wasn’t sure what would have happened to Jess in the long-term if he hadn’t come to Stars Hollow to be treated better, to find a place that he belonged. Most of the time, she didn’t even like to think about it, but lately, she didn’t have much of a choice.

It wasn’t what she had been expecting when she came up with the idea. After hearing Jess tell so many amazing stories to their kids, it seemed the most natural thing in the world to tell her husband maybe he should write a book. Maybe even several books. It wasn’t about the money or anything, they made enough to cover them already, more or less, but Rory thought maybe writing could be something for Jess that he didn’t come to by proxy.

The diner was great and it had been so generous of Luke to sign over half of the place to his nephew and step-daughter years ago. Jess took great pride in being a business owner, and ran the place alongside his uncle to the very best of his ability, but it wasn’t really who he was, Rory was sure on that.

After their initial talk about it, Rory musing on her husband being a world-famous author one day and only half-joking when she suggested it, they hadn’t really mentioned it again for several weeks. When she saw Jess with papers, scribbling thoughtfully from time to time, she didn’t question it. For all she knew, he was coming up with new menu ideas for the diner or even planning a Christmas surprise for her. She just didn’t ask, knowing eventually, if he wanted to, he would tell her.

It was late September when she was sitting quietly at her desk studying when suddenly the large stack of paper landed in her line of vision.

“What’s this?” she asked, peering up at Jess who had the strangest expression on his face.

“A book, maybe,” he admitted, shifting awkwardly in place, pushing at one unruly sleeve that was insisting on falling down when he clearly didn’t want it to. “Probably garbage, but I honestly don’t know.”

Rory wasn’t sure if he was joking until she shifted her gaze to the sheer volume of paper he had presented her with. It was all a little muddled around the edges, different sized pieces of paper, a lot of scribbling, she noted, and all written long-hand from what she could tell. What really had her shocked was how fast this seemed to have happened.

“You wrote a book... in a month?” she asked, looking back up into his face. “Jess...”

“I may have had some of it from before,” he admitted, heaving a sigh. “Okay, from the top,” he seemed to decide all at once, perching himself on the edge of Rory’s desk to explain further. “So, you remember that night you overheard me telling the kids some fairytale version of our lives? You said something about me being good at that, you know, coming up with stories and everything, and that maybe that’s something I could do for real, the whole book writing thing,” he said, making some vague gesture with his hand in the direction of the manuscript at Rory’s elbow.

“Of course, I remember.” Rory nodded. “But I had no idea... This is a whole book?”

“Kind of, I think,” Jess admitted, squirming a little still. “Like I said before, it’s probably garbage. The truth is, back before you and me straightened everything out with us, when I was in New York by myself, I started writing stuff down. Some real, some made up. It was kind of cathartic in a way, I guess. Working through some of the crap with Liz and Luke and... and us,” he said, clearing his throat. “It’s not about us,” he clarified fast. “I mean, some of it... it’s kind of inspired by events in my life, I guess. Look, just read it, okay? Read it and tell me it’s trash, then we can throw it out and never talk about it again.”

He moved as if to walk away, but Rory had grabbed onto his arm and would not let him escape so easy. She made him meet her gaze and then she smiled.

“You know it is not trash,” she said definitely. “Come on, you have this amazing brain, a good vocabulary, a decent imagination. There is absolutely no reason why you couldn’t write a book. Hello, evidence right here,” she said, her free hand patting the huge pile of pages before her. “A book, Jess, you wrote a book.”

“It’s not a book until some idiot publishes it,” he told her firmly. “Right now, it’s not even a manuscript, it’s just...”

“If you say trash, garbage, or some other related simile, I am personally going to pick up the whole stack of paper and hit you over the head with it,” said Rory smartly.

That had summoned up the usual smirk that always looked so good on Jess. When Rory got up to wrap her arms around his neck and plant a kiss on his cheek, that smirk turned into a real smile, as he finally seemed to accept the fact that maybe his attempt at a novel could actually be really good.

It felt like a huge responsibility to Rory when she took on the task of editing. When Jess had told her she was right for the job, of course, she was flattered, but it was a whole other thing actually completing the task. Jess had insisted on her being honest in everything she said to him about the would-be book. He wanted to know if any part of it sucked, though she insisted, in complete honesty, that very little of it was less-than great.

As Fall progressed, Rory worked through the pile of paper, and then she and Jess set about typing it up into a real manuscript. Just one month ago, on November 1st, they were finally done. It was a heck of an accomplishment, but Rory insisted they were not done yet.

“So, now you start sending it out to publishers, right?”

“Huh.” Jess had stood at the bottom of the stairs, having just returned from putting Tori to bed, staring at his wife like she suddenly had three heads. “I don’t know, Ror. I mean, I’m not sorry I wrote the thing, or that we got it whipped into shape and all, but it’s not like anybody is really going to want to read it.”

“Jess, are you kidding me?” she argued, shaking her head at him. “After all that work, please tell me you’re at least going to try and get some publishing house to take you seriously. _The Subsect_ is so good. It deserves to be seen by more than just you and me.”

“What’s a sub-seck?” asked Jack with a frown.

Jess smiled at the little boy’s question and the way he had said it. “Nothing important, buddy,” he assured his son, ruffling his hair as he moved by him to sit down on the couch by Rory.

“Nothing important?” she echoed with a look, knowing he wasn’t only trying to get out of explaining an odd word to their six-year-old. “Sometimes I don’t understand you.”

Almost the moment he sat down, she got up and walked away. It wasn’t that Rory was mad at Jess exactly. If he really didn’t want to get his book published, it was his choice, after all, but she just knew that wasn’t it. He would love to see his name on the cover of a novel, she was absolutely certain on that, he was just afraid of being shot down.

It was that certainty that led Rory to do something she never thought she would, to go behind Jess’ back and submit his manuscript to a few publishing houses on his behalf. When she told her mom about it, Lorelai warned her she might be on very dangerous ground. As nice a gesture as her actions might seem, there was no guarantee that Jess would see it that way.

“Well, if nobody wants to publish it, I just won’t ever tell him I tried,” Rory reasoned, “and if somebody did want to turn it into a real book, he couldn’t be mad about that, right?”

“I guess. I mean, he’s your husband, you should know him best of anyone, right?” Lorelai had replied, shrugging her shoulders, not looking convinced.

Of course, it was too late by then. Rory had sent out all the letters and copies of the first few chapters of _The Subsect_. She hit all the big publishing houses, but also a bunch of other smaller concerns, thinking she just had to get a bite somewhere, surely. 

A couple of letters came through, thanking Jess for his submission, but telling him they were declining the chance to publish. Rory hid them away, all the while wondering if she should tell Jess what she had done, but she never seemed to find the right moment.

Maybe she should have tried harder, she considered, as Jess picked up the ringing phone and confirmed that the caller was in fact speaking to Jess Mariano.

“Huh,” she heard him say, a distinct frown on his face as he turned to look at her.

Rory glanced away quickly, pretending to concentrate on an article in _Vanity Fair_ , but quite honestly, she hadn’t a clue what it was about. Her eyes were unfocused and her ears were trained on Jess’ side of the phone conversation still.

“No, nobody else has made me an offer. Sure, I can send you the rest of the manuscript. Sounds good.”

Out the corner of her eye, Rory watched Jess scribble something on a notepad, then he was saying his goodbyes and hanging up the phone. Immediately, her eyes snapped back to the page of her magazine, focusing a little better this time. She was frowning hard when she realised her nose was practically pressed into an article about varicose veins, or more accurately, the accompanying pictures.

“So, I just had an interesting phone call,” said Jess, lifting Rory’s legs from the couch cushion and sitting down with her feet in his lap. “You ever heard of... Truncheon Publishing?” he asked, reading from the scrap of paper in his hand.

“Maybe,” said Rory, peering sheepishly at him over the magazine.

“Well, somehow, they seem to know who I am. Seems they even have a copy of the first three chapters of _The Subsect_ and they seem to think that I asked them if they wanted to publish it.”

Rory was pretty sure he wasn’t mad about it, though she supposed he had every right to be if he wanted. Just in case, she tossed the magazine aside and shifted closer to him.

“I just wanna remind you that Mom and Luke are going to be back here with the kids in about a half-hour, so if you really wanna yell at me, which you absolutely have a right to do, could you do it fast?” she said, nervously biting her lip right after.

The expression on Jess’ face was unreadable, even to his wife of five years, and then all of a sudden he was smiling and reaching out to pull her closer.

“C’mere,” he urged her, his lips eventually covering hers as he kissed her long and hard.

Rory hadn’t realised what was happening until it was too late and hadn’t managed to get a breath in before the kissing began. She was pretty lightheaded by the time Jess was done with her. She was also entirely in his lap by now.

“So,” she said, breathing deeply as soon as she had the chance, “you’re not mad?”

“How can I be mad?” Jess asked her, shaking his head. “These weirdos actually think my book is worth publishing, and you helped convince them to do it. Do I love that you did that behind my back? No,” he admitted, “but since it all worked out for the best, I guess I can live with it.”

Rory grinned and hugged him tight. “Jess, I am so happy for you! You’re going to be a published author, isn’t that wild?”

“The wildest,” he agreed, laughing at her usual over-the-top enthusiasm. “Although, the guy did say they were a small press. It’s not like I’m going to be world famous off this or anything.”

“Well, not yet,” Rory agreed, “but maybe someday. You never know.”

“Yeah, I guess you really never do,” he said, reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear. “Thank you, Rory, for... everything,” he settled on eventually. “I mean, all the editing and the proofreading and the typing, that was important, but for doing this,” he said, waving the piece of paper in his hand with Truncheon’s details on it. “For believing in me, I guess.”

“I always believed in you, Jess,” she promised. “And I always will,” she swore, leaning down to kiss him one more time.

As the passion rose between them and they became practically horizontal on the couch, Rory pulled away a little.

“Jess, we can’t,” she insisted. “Mom and Luke will be dropping Jack and Tori off in... twenty minutes,” she said as she checked the time on his watch.

“I can work with that,” he assured her, capturing her lips before she could make any further protest

As if Rory was really going to argue. If he said they could make it work, then it was like she said before, she believed in him, and despite what he might think about himself sometimes, Jess Mariano never, ever let her down.


	5. School's Out Forever - 19th May 2023

“Man, did you ever think we would get to this day!”

Alex was bouncing around like a kid ten years younger or more than he actually was, and all because it was finally graduation day.

“I can’t believe you thought high school went slow.” Martha shook her head at her boyfriend. “I think it was so fast. Too fast, actually,” she said, taking a large bite from the banana in her hand and continuing to talk around the mouthful she ended up with. “It’s so sad, knowing it’s over.”

Alex stared wide-eyed at her, making her just a little self-conscious.

“What?” she asked, swallowing hard.

“Babe, I love you, but how can you be sad that we’re done with high school?”

“How can you be so happy we’re done already?” asked Jack then, finally tuning back in to the conversation. “Seriously, Alex, when we got here, you were so excited. You couldn’t wait to be in high school. Mostly, you couldn’t wait to date every girl in high school.”

“Hey, that was the old me,” his friend reminded him, looking sideways at Martha. “I’m a changed man, remember?”

“You better be,” his girlfriend insisted, planting a sticky banana kiss on his cheek.

Jack laughed at the face Alex pulled but all too easily drifted away from the couple’s conversation right after. This really was kind of an epic day. They were actually graduating, Stars Hollow High’s Class of 2023. He couldn’t exactly say he agreed with either Martha or Alex on the timing of it all. After all, there were parts that did seem to drag and others that seemed to fly. Some of his boring classes, like history with Mr Wexler, who couldn’t be more monotone if he tried, made hours seem like weeks all too easily, while time spent hanging out with his friends at lunch or at events like dances and prom, that all passed in the wink of an eye.

Now they were all eighteen, him and Martha and Alex, done with high school and one short summer vacation away from college. It was kind of mind-blowing, as Jack snuck a peek at the crowd gathering out front of the school, all the family and friends waiting to see them cross the stage and officially graduate.

Two years ago, he went to a party over at the Dragonfly, celebrating Davey’s graduation, where everybody reminded him and Martha that they would be next out of the large family group to have such an event in their name. Now, here they were. An hour from now, they would be in a crowd of folks at the inn one more time, with most of them probably reminding the next set of future grads that it’d be their turn soon.

“Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future...”

Jack laughed when he realised what he was singing. He caught his mom doing the same thing at least three times in the past week. It had taken a while before he caught that particular part of the lyrics coming from her mouth and realised why it was significant that she had _Fly Like An Eagle_ stuck in her head so much lately. She was feeling it too, the significant change in their lives. Things were moving on in the Mariano family, for Jack most especially, and he felt it, felt it deeply, today of all days.

“You okay, man?” asked Alex then, snapping him back to reality with a bump.

“Sure, yeah, I’m good.” Jack smiled at him. “Mar, please calm down,” he told her then, noting she was already searching for something else she could eat. “You really don’t have to be so afraid of a graduation ceremony. If I’m not scared, how can you be?”

“I just can’t shake that dream I’ve been having,” she said sadly, so close to tears, he really wished he could help, but he didn’t know how.

“The nightmare where you trip in the middle of the stage,” he said knowingly. “But Mar, you’re not that accident-prone,” he told her, choosing to ignore the look Alex shot him over her head at the sound of that enormous lie. “You’ll be fine.”

“And hey, if you fall, you’ll just get back up,” Alex told her, hugging her from behind. “It’s not that big a deal.”

“And you won’t laugh?” she checked, craning her neck to look back at him.

Alex worked his jaw a couple of times and then sighed. “Babe, please don’t make me wreck this relationship by making you promises that I can’t keep.”

Jack face-palmed on his friend’s behalf but managed not to laugh at least. Poor Martha, she was not at all amused by what Alex said, but when he kissed her and promised her he would love her even if she did fall on her butt, she did seem a little better.

They had a weird relationship, Jack knew that for sure, but they loved each other too, and he loved them both as the two best friends he could ever have. That ought to be enough to get them through.

“Everybody to your seats now, come on, quickly please!” Ms Bryant advised as she bustled through.

“Looks like we’re up,” said Jack, clearing his throat loudly twice before Martha and Alex finally came up for air.

With their last names so far apart in the alphabet, there was no chance for any of them to sit together, and they split up into their given sections, along with all the other students from their class. From his seat somewhere in the middle, Jack could just make out Martha towards the front of the crowd, but Alex was lost to him way in back. Just as he was turning to sit back straight in his seat, his eyes passed over the crowd of family and friends, seeing one madly waving hand that easily caught his attention.

“Good luck, bro!” Tori called to him, though he couldn’t really hear her so much as lip read her overexaggerated words and see her thumbs-up signal.

Jack raised a hand in acknowledgment, then faced front when Ms Bryant came by again, trying to make sure everyone was both present and in their correct seat.

“He saw me,” said Tori, turning to her dad with a grin. “Look, right there,” she said, pointing to show him where to look.

“I see. You know, a couple of years and that’ll be you,” he reminded her.

Tori rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Dad. Doula has to graduate before I do.”

She wished she hadn’t said it like that when she saw him wince.

“She’ll graduate,” said Rory from the next seat over, patting her husband on the knee. “We’ll make sure she does.”

Tori smiled when she saw her parents take a hold of each other’s hands then. Most teens would hate the idea of their mom and dad being in any way romantic still, but Tori was actually kind of proud of the fact her parents still loved each other that much. After all, with the divorce rate so high and so many broken families around, it was damn near miraculous to Tori that she had happily married parents, grandparents, and at least three sets of aunts and uncles herself.

“Just remember to take lots of pictures! I promised Lorelai you would take just as many of Jack as Martha.”

It was tough not to laugh when Tori suddenly heard Aunt Sookie, from two rows away, demanding Uncle Jackson do as he was told. He tried to argue with her sometimes, but it never did get him anywhere, and in the end, they all knew he loved her so much, he would actually deny her nothing.

“Honey, I plan to take plenty of pictures,” he promised her, “and Jaime is filming the whole thing also. Lorelai won’t miss a thing. In fact, I’ll personally put every single picture and second of film onto a thumb drive and have it engraved with Lorelai’s name for you to present to her, if that would make you happy.”

“You don’t have to be sarcastic about it,” Sookie countered. “I’m just thinking of those pictures from Davey’s graduation. I don’t think his whole head was in a single one.”

“Dad? You’re filming this for Grandma and Grandpa too, right?” Tori asked him.

“Your mom has it covered,” he promised her in a low voice, “just don’t tell them that,” he suggested, gesturing to the Belvilles. “It’s not worth the explosion.”

Tori giggled at that but tried to pull it together when suddenly the principal appeared on stage and the ceremony was underway. The initial speeches were mercifully short and then the valedictorian was called to give his own address.

The grin on Tori’s face was a mile wide as she watched her brother take the podium, clearly nervous but trying not to let it show as he began his speech.

“Principal Collins, faculty members, fellow students, family and friends, welcome. I’m standing here today, allegedly, because I got the best grades in my graduating class, but I’d like to tell you all that there is not just that one reason, but an entire list, for why I ended up in this privileged position.

“Around twenty years ago, my mom, Rory Gilmore, was valedictorian at her own graduation at Chilton Preparatory School in Hartford. In her speech, which I was lucky enough to get to read for myself not too long ago, she told her audience how she lived in two worlds - one very real and one of great literature.

“Like her, I have walked a similar path, hunting the white whale aboard the Pequod, sailing a raft with Huck and Jim, but also driving an ambulance over the battlefields with Frederic Henry, and travelling across America with Sal and Dean. The latter of the influences came from my father, Jess Mariano, a high school drop-out who nobody thought would ever amount to anything. They were so wrong.

“From the reunion of these two incredible people came me and, along with my sister, I have had the privilege of being raised in a family of even more amazing people than just these two. Nobody has better grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other assorted family members, both blood and not, than we do.

“Great books, good music, and excellent movies have shaped my personality, no question, but what has inspired me the most, from the earliest days of my childhood to now, are my family. The intelligence, the tenacity, and the overall kindness they have taught me is unparalleled. The support they give and understanding they show is as much to do with why I am standing here now as any effort I put into my studies.

“I want each and every one of my family members, as well as each of my friends, to know that I would not be the person I am today without them.”

Tori looked over at her mom just as she started to cry happy tears. Honestly, it even looked as if maybe her dad was struggling too. Tori totally got it. She could not have been prouder of her brother than she was right then.

Soon, the graduates finally begun to cross the stage, in the usual alphabetical order.

Thankfully, in the middle of the Bs, Martha Belville moved gracefully across the stage, no trips or falls, not even a hint of a stumble. A while later, Jack Lucas Richard Mariano received his diploma, but of course, they had to wait a while longer before they could see him, and Tori dutifully applauded for Alexander Tramos as he too graduated in style, going so far as to salute the audience as he headed across the stage. He really was kind of a fool, but in the best way.

“That’s it,” Tori heard her mom say then. “They’re done. All graduated. All grown up.”

Rory couldn’t keep the wobble out of her voice or the tears from cascading down her cheeks as the ceremony concluded. She knew this was a big deal, but she hadn’t realised quite how overwhelmed she would be until it happened. Jack’s speech, most especially, had just about floored her.

The moment they were set free, the crowd of family and friends and the graduates started to mingle. Tori literally ran towards Jack who hurried to meet her and they hugged each other so tight. Rory watched them, fighting to keep her emotions in check and failing badly.

“Oh my God, Jess, look at them,” she said, as Alex and Martha joined them for further hugs and congratulations.

“Yep, there’s a lot of growing up going on lately,” her husband noted, his arm around Rory’s shoulders as they walked on over. “Is it making you feel old? It’s making me feel so old.”

“Hey, we’re not old,” Rory countered, socking him in the chest. “At least, I’m not.”

“You’re fine, you don’t look any different to the day I met you,” he told her with a grin.

“Bad liar,” his wife countered, though she was laughing all the same - he really was incredibly sweet sometimes. “Hey, valedictorian!” she said to Jack then, moving away from Jess to pull her son into her arms.

“Aren’t they just the best?” said Sookie, all tears and smiles as she hugged Martha just the same. “They’re... they’re just the cutest graduates there ever were!”

“Sweetheart, you said that about Davey and his classmates two years ago,” Jackson reminded her. “You’ll probably say it again about Jaime and Tori and everyone else in a couple of years too.”

“Something to look forward to.” Tori shrugged as Jaime giggled and nodded her agreement.

Before long, Sookie was insisting more pictures be taken, and Rory got in on the act with her camera too. Jess and Jackson shared an eye-roll but none the less did as they were told, because who wanted to fight with their wife on a day like this?

“Excellent speech, bro,” said Tori, looking up at her brother in a quiet moment between weirdly staged but supposedly meant to look candid pictures. “So, how’s it feel?”

“Being a graduate?” Jack checked, shrugging his shoulders when she nodded confirmation. “I don’t know. I guess a lot like being a senior, except just a little scarier.”

Tori smiled and reached to hug him. “You’ll be fine, I know you will,” she told him easily. “Nobody’s cooler than my big brother. All of Stars Hollow knows this, and soon, all of Yale will know it too, and then the world at large,” she told him, grinning as they parted.

“Thanks, Toria,” he said, beaming down at her. “For the record, I don’t think kid sister’s come much better than you either.”

“Obviously not,” she told him, rolling her eyes the very next moment as they were both dragged into another picture.

It wasn’t that she really minded. In fact, she wouldn’t even mind when they had to do it all over again at her own graduation in a couple of years’ time. Her graduation, Class of 2025. A shiver ran through Tori just thinking about that. In some ways it seemed such a long way off and in others as if it were coming up far too quickly. Not that there was anything she could do about it either way. Better just to smile for the camera and deal with whatever came next when it got there.


	6. Yours, Mine, and Ours - 20th April 2007

Luke never liked hospitals. He figured it was the same for most people, given that many of the reasons for being in one were bad. It wasn’t that he had no happy thoughts associated with the place. After all, a little over a year ago he was here with Jess, waiting for news on Rory and the birth of baby Jack. Of course, on the other hand, he remembered all the visits to this place when his own mom was sick, and then his dad too. In between, he had brought Liz here to give birth to Jess, only for Jimmy to bolt minutes after hearing his son had been safely delivered. Then there were more recent occasions, like when Lorelai’s father was brought in one Christmas after a heart attack. Bad memories lingered in the halls of this place and Luke could not escape them.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if he had company, but of course, it just worked out all wrong. Naturally, no child that he and Lorelai had was going to have a regular, normal circumstance for their birth. He had to decide he was coming out into the world almost an entire month early and at stupid o’clock in the morning. Luke had been startled awake by Lorelai’s cries of pain and from that moment to this was sure he hadn’t breathed steadily yet.

“Luke!”

When he heard a voice call him from further down the hall, he was on his feet in a second, arms open to welcome Rory as she barrelled towards him. She hugged him so tight, apologising at least three times for the delay, before finally asking how her mom was doing.

“She’s fine... at least, as far as I know,” he said as they parted. “The doctors had to rush off with the kid, I barely got to see him...”

When a drop of water landed on his hand, Luke was surprised to see it, and more so when he realised it had come from his own eye. He really wasn’t much of a crier, that was for sure, but he supposed, if anything was going to reduce him to tears, it might just be the birth of his first and only son, especially in these circumstances.

“He’ll be fine, Luke, I know he will,” Rory insisted, gripping his hands tightly in her own. “You and Mom, you’re two of the strongest people in the world. Any baby you guys made is going to be so tough, and apparently, also impatient,” she said with a slight smile.

Luke laughed at that, even if it wasn’t all that funny. He was so glad to have Rory here, happier still when he realised she wasn’t actually alone.

“Jess,” he said as he saw his nephew come around the corner.

“Parking in this place is a real adventure,” he declared, walking up to Luke and hugging him without pause. “You doing okay?”

“I’m doing okay,” his uncle promised him. “What did you do with Jack?”

“Sookie and Jackson,” Rory explained. “They send their love too.”

Though he nodded his head in understanding of all that was being said, Luke wasn’t sure he was really taking it in. He just kept on wondering what was happening with his wife and his son. The nurse ushered him out so fast after delivery, whisked the baby away and said they needed to check Lorelai over, given the premature birth and her age and everything. Luke suspected he hadn’t been out of the room more than fifteen minutes maybe, but it felt like forever.

“Hey, Luke?” Jess prompted, gesturing to an open door across the way and a nurse coming out of it.

“Mr Danes?” she checked, smiling when he nodded his head in the positive. “If you’d like to come with me, you can sit with your wife.”

He glanced back at Rory and Jess who smiled and encouraged him forward, asking that he please give all their love and best wishes Lorelai until they could see her for themselves. Following behind the nurse, Luke stopped when she did, and watched as she opened another door, ushering him in.

“Uh, my son?” he asked.

“My next stop is to go check on him and, hopefully, I’ll be bringing him in to see the both of you in just a few minutes.”

“Okay.” Luke nodded once again, going into the room and heaving a sigh of relief when he saw Lorelai, alert and awake, in the bed there. “Hey, you.”

“Hey,” she said, looking up at him with shining, tired eyes and a half-smile. “Well, that was tougher than I remember.”

“Really?” he checked, moving to sit on the edge of the bed and picking up her hand in both of his own to kiss it. “Because I assumed nothing could be tougher than... what was the eloquent phrase? Doing the splits on a crate of dynamite?”

Lorelai laughed but it seemed like it hurt a little to do it. “Yeah, maybe that was accurate. I think I just assumed I’d exaggerated in my head over the years. For the record, I did not. We want another one of these little critters, then you’re having it,” she insisted.

Luke smiled and nodded. “Whatever you say, sweetheart,” he promised her, however foolish and impossible it was. “I know it’s painful and everything, but you’re... I mean, you’re okay, right?” he checked then.

“I’m okay,” Lorelai promised. “I just hope he is. He’s so tiny, Luke. Tinier than Rory ever was,” she said, shaking her head. “A whole month early. Is that too much?”

“Apparently not. The nurse said she can probably bring him to us soon.”

“I hope so. I wanna see my little boy.”

“Me too.”

Silence reigned for a moment or two, Lorelai probably too tired to say much, Luke just overwhelmed by the events of the day so far. No doubt it seemed a little crazy to Lorelai when he suddenly cracked up with laughter, but Luke couldn’t entirely help it.

“Okay, seriously, what is wrong with you?” she asked, looking bemused.

“I’m sorry,” Luke insisted, waving his hand in an ‘ignore me’ gesture, though of course, that wouldn’t come easy. “I just... I’m kind of in awe of this whole thing.”

“Awe, okay,” Lorelai agreed. “I get that, but awe does not usually involve laughing like a crazy person.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” said Luke one more time, clearing his throat and getting a grip at last. “You do realise you just gave birth to Jack’s uncle, who is over a year younger than him, right?”

“I do realise that.” Lorelai nodded. “Which I guess is kind of funny when I think about it. Plus, Rory’s little brother is also Jess’ cousin. Wow, we just actually gave them a shared blood relation,” she said, making a face.

“Huh, I guess we did.”

That was when the laughter started again, from both of them this time, loud enough to concern the nurse when she finally came into the room, pushing a wheeled-incubator containing their son. That sure sobered up Luke and Lorelai both when they realised what was happening.

“Oh my God!” Lorelai gasped as the tiny bundle was lifted into her arms.

“He shouldn’t be out of there for too long at a time to start off with,” the nurse advised, “but I can give you a few minutes to each hold him and get acquainted,” she said with a kind smile. “I’ll be back,” she said as she slipped back out of the door.

“Thanks, Arnie!” Lorelai called behind her, though her eyes never left the baby in her arms.

“They’re going to think we’re crazy,” Luke told her, though his gaze was just as fixed as his wife’s own.

“Like they’d be wrong if they did,” she said easily, before talking to the baby boy she was holding close then. “Hey, little man. Hey, I’m your mommy, and this guy is daddy. Take a good look ‘cause he doesn’t look like this too often. The baseball cap is kind of a permanent feature, you know, when he’s not thrown out of bed at one in the morning for an emergency birth situation.”

Luke laughed at her joke even as he moved closer on the bed to put his arms around both Lorelai and their new son.

“He’s perfect,” he said, marvelling at the sight of the little baby boy. “You’re both perfect.”

“Also, Daddy needs eye-glasses if he thinks Mommy looks perfect right now,” Lorelai told the baby, before glancing up at Luke with a smile, “but I’ll take it.”

“You’re always perfect to me,” he promised, kissing her softly. “You always were and you always will be.”

“You’re not so bad yourself, Luke Danes,” she told him happily. “Actually, on that subject,” she continued then, looking back down at their son, “I was thinking about names. We never did really settle on just one and, well, as much as I love my dad, I already got to pick Rory’s name, so I think maybe this kid should be all about you. And yes, I know, you vetoed Lucas already and I get that, but... well, what about William? You know, for your dad?”

It wasn’t that the thought hadn’t crossed Luke’s mind, because of course it had. When Lorelai suggested Richard as a possible name for their son, he had said he wouldn’t necessarily mind, but she had changed tack later and decided maybe their kid should be an original rather than a copy of someone else.

After that, Luke decided not to even pitch William as an option, after all, it wasn’t as if his dad was around to know about it. They went through just about a million choices since then, but none ever seemed right. The plan was to see what name suited once the baby was actually born. Now here they were and apparently Lorelai had decided William was a good fit.

“Luke?” she prompted, alerting him to the fact he probably should’ve answered her by now. “If you hate it-”

“I don’t,” he cut in, shaking his head. “I mean, I don’t hate it, I just didn’t... Are you sure about this? It’s not so original. It’s actually kind of old-fashioned.”

“Well, a little, maybe,” Lorelai considered. “But I figure he’ll be William officially but we can call him Will or Billy or something. Could be cool, right?”

Luke looked from her uncertain expression to the tiny baby squirming in her arms.

“Billy Danes,” he said, a smile taking over his face. “Captain of the football team.”

“Billy Danes, valedictorian,” Lorelai tried out with a grin. “Actually, Billy Danes, King of the Wild Frontier kinda works too.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “There are valid reasons why the people around here think we’re crazy.”

“Would you really want us to be any other way?” asked Lorelai, clearly not looking for a reply because she already knew the answer.

“Rory and Jess are out in the hall,” Luke told her instead. “You want me to go get them?”

“In a second,” she said, leaning further into his embrace. “It’s okay with just us three for a little while longer, right?”

“Yeah,” Luke assured her, kissing her temple, “it’s more than okay.”


	7. How Long Must You Wait? - 20th August 2036

Of course, Jaime Belville had dreams, just like everybody else. Career-wise, she couldn’t say she wasn’t fulfilling at least some of those dreams. Romantically, well, the ultimate goal had become something of a fantasy as the years went by.

She really never did think Jack Mariano would look at her as anything more than his best friend’s little sister, just a pseudo-cousin type, like so many others in their sprawling family tree of both blood and non-blood members. She never could’ve known it would turn out this way.

Her apartment never saw much company and when it did it was usually one of her siblings, maybe a friend or two that dropped in for coffee or whatever. Jaime was kind of a loner, not in a creepy way but just in a comfortable with her own company way, if she had to find a way to describe it. She wasn’t big on dating either, though she had been out with guys before. A dinner here, drinks there, maybe a movie sometime. No man that took her out and brought her home ever made it past the front door. Jack was different.

He seemed surprised when he asked her out last week - their twenty-first date in six months, which was pretty impressive for people who lived so far apart - and she invited him over to her place, offering to cook dinner. He floundered in answering, but eventually agreed.

So, here they were, dinner eaten, conversation enjoyed, and compliments paid. A strange and slightly uncomfortable silence had fallen over the table, when suddenly Jaime took a firm hold of her own confidence and asked Jack to dance.

“Here?” he had asked, looking left and right as if checking he was still in her apartment, like he thought.

“No, in the ballroom at Netherfield Park.” Jaime rolled her eyes, laughing when she saw his mouth drop open in surprise. “I’m sorry. Nerves bring out my sarcastic side.”

Jack’s eyes were so soft, his smile so endearing as he nodded his head. “I remember,” he told her, getting up from his seat and offering her his hand.

Jaime had taken it without pause and let him pull her to her feet. She went easily into his arms, like the most natural thing in the world, and they swayed together to the soft music from the stereo that had been nothing but background noise until that moment. If Jack noticed the romantic theme amongst each carefully curated track, he never said a word, as they slow danced their way through two or three songs. Jaime was pretty sure she would happily let this moment go on for hours, sure it couldn’t be improved upon, except maybe in one way.

“This is nice,” said Jack, his words vibrating through his chest and seemingly through every part of Jaime’s body that was resting against him.

“You know, I remember when you guys all went to prom,” she said, making herself pick her head up and look at him properly. “Martha was a bundle of nerves and excitement about the whole thing. She was so determined to bowl Alex over with this amazing dress, but she felt really bad about the fact you didn’t have a date.”

“It really didn’t bother me much,” Jack told her, shrugging his shoulders.

Jaime sighed. “You have no idea how many times I almost offered to go with you,” she said, blushing even now at the memory from her childhood years. “I kept on thinking, just maybe you would be desperate enough to say yes...”

“Jaime, I wasn’t... I mean, it wouldn’t have been...”

“It’s okay,” she assured him with a bright smile reserved especially for him. “It wasn’t your fault I felt that way, and it’s not as if you ever... I mean, you didn’t reject me or anything, and even if I had told you how I felt and you did turn me down, who could blame you? You were eighteen by then, about to go to college and then out into the world. I was only fifteen, just a kid in high school. That wasn’t our time.”

“I guess not,” Jack agreed, “but hey, we found our time now, right?” he said, one hand moving up to push her hair back from her face.

Jaime swallowed hard. “I like to think so,” she said, more softly than she meant to. “It’s been a long time coming.”

When he leaned down to kiss her then, she went up on her toes to meet him, arms tightening around his neck, keeping him close as she deepened the moment between them.

This was what she wanted, what she had always wanted. So much for reality not living up to the fantasy, in the case of her dating Jack, he really was everything she dreamed he would be. The fact he could now look at her and see an ideal partner too was beyond thrilling. It was as if finally, the stars had aligned, fate had a plan. It was their time, just like Jack had said. Jaime was just so very sure.

“So,” she said, breathlessly, as they finally pulled apart a little. “I, uh... sounds like the playlist ended,” she noted, head tiling towards the speakers a moment.

“Probably a little weird to keep on dancing when the music has stopped.” Jack laughed, almost nervously, Jaime thought, or maybe she was just projecting. “You want to sit down or...?”

“Or,” she said fast, picking up where he left off, “we could go someplace more comfortable?”

Jaime winced a little at her own words. Not that she regretted the offer she had made to him. That part she was sure about, it was just the way she worded it sounded so awful when she heard it. She was better with visual art. Words were Jack’s strong suit, not hers. Well, usually, anyway.

“Jaime, I don’t... I mean, you know I would... It’s not that I don’t...”

She couldn’t bear to hear and see him struggle, couldn’t stand the idea of trying to explain herself any better than she had before. It seemed so much easier just to act. Pushing herself forward and up again, she crushed her mouth against his own, certain that he couldn’t mistake her intentions, couldn’t think for a second that she was unsure about what she was doing.

Tripping backwards, she pulled Jack along with her, determined as she was to make it to the bedroom somehow. Just when she was wondering how they hadn’t reached the door by now, her back hit the wall with a painful thud. Startled as she was, Jaime was amazed she hadn’t injured one of them, but thankfully no.

“Wow, this is going so well,” she said, that nervous sarcasm back full-force.

“Maybe this just isn’t the time?” Jack suggested, looking a little pained.

Jaime felt the tears begin to form in her eyes and fought them for all she was worth.

“Are you kidding?” she asked, glancing up at him through lashes that were fast getting damp. “You realise how long I’ve been waiting for this moment, right? And I don’t just mean with you.”

Jack sighed at that remark and turned his face away. Of course, he understood. Jaime had told him plainly, six months ago now, when she first revealed her feelings for him, that her status was decidedly virginal yet. She had been waiting, perhaps pointlessly, she had considered, for this guy, for this moment, and now, was he really going to turn her down?

“Jaime, it’s not that I don’t want to,” he said gently, meeting her eyes. “You are just amazing and beautiful, and these past few months, I don’t even know what it is that changed, but I do wanna be with you, in every way,” he promised her, making Jaime wonder what the problem was if that were the case, but she just couldn’t find her voice enough to ask. “It’s just that you’re... you’ve waited so long and, well, frankly, that’s a lot of pressure on me, you know?”

It was strange but Jaime really hadn’t thought to look at it that way. Oddly enough, she didn’t feel all that stressed about the fact she might make a fool of herself in her first time, that she might not measure up to the women he had taken to bed before now. She knew Jack so well, trusted him so implicitly, as much as she had pre-game nerves, for lack of a better term, she felt okay about what was potentially about to happen. It really hadn’t occurred to her that there were all kinds of pressure on Jack to deliver a perfect moment, a perfect night, to the girl who had been dreaming of this for almost half her life.

“I’m sorry,” she said then as she gave it a moment’s thought. “I didn’t think, I just... well, for what it’s worth, there really is no pressure,” she promised, hand coming up to his cheek as she smiled up at him. “Jack, I... I love you. I’ve always loved you and if you...”

“I do,” he told her easily, returning her smile. “Come on, you know I love you too,” he swore, turning his head to kiss her hand.

Jaime felt her eyes fall shut, savouring everything about the moment, the words he said, his lips against her palm. Every part of her was warm and buzzing from that alone. Heaven only knew how much better it could get if they went through with what she had planned tonight, but if Jack wasn’t certain he wanted to, she was aware it would be as bad for her to push him as it would be if the circumstances were reversed.

“You know, it’s weird,” he said, her eyes popping open to meet his gaze then. “Even though I have... well, there have been other women in my life,” he said, a little awkwardly, “it never worked out. It was never like the stories, like the songs, like the movies,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Life isn’t, usually,” Jaime noted, breath catching as Jack moved in a little closer, his body pressed against her own once again.

“Except for when it is,” he told her, leaning down to capture her mouth.

Though her head was spinning, her knees about to buckle too, Jaime knew where she was now. Three paces left and then back through the door. Jack went with her this time, willingly, no hesitation at all.

It was just exactly how it was supposed to be.


	8. Be My Valentine - 14th February 2017

“I’m telling you, he’s doing it all wrong!” said Doula indignantly. “Real women don’t respond to that approach.”

“ _Real_ women?” Rory echoed in a soft tone, trying not to giggle as Jess rolled his eyes.

“I swear I don’t know where she gets this stuff,” he told his wife, equally quietly.

They were watching over Jess’ little sister for the day, along with Jack and Tori, and Billy too, while the town in general celebrated Valentine’s Day the way only Stars Hollow could - with a big crazy event for all.

The town square was all decorated in pink and red crepe paper, with flowers and love hearts all over the gazebo, and various stalls and games set out for the amusement of everyone present. Also, they were raising money for the bridge. Again.

“I still can’t believe your mom is missing this,” Jess told Rory. “It’s exactly her kind of nuts.”

“True, but Luke already had this super-romantic day figured out for them, including a meal at the restaurant they went to for their first date, and there was just no way to say no to that,” Rory reminded him. “I bet she’ll make sure they’re back before all the fun is over.”

“God only knows what Liz and TJ are doing today. I didn’t actually dare to ask.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re spending all day in their bedroom,” Doula piped up, having overheard that remark. “It is an important part of a healthy marriage.”

If Jess’ eyes got any wider, Rory was pretty sure they would roll out of his head.

“Seriously, where is she getting this?” she asked her husband in an urgent whisper. “It’s really freaky hearing that from a ten-year-old!”

“I’m just glad those three aren’t paying much attention,” Jess replied, tilting his head towards Jack and Tori who were both engrossed in books and Billy who was equally as absorbed by a video game.

“Oh my God!” Doula gasped then, literally face-palming. “If I had known he was going to screw up this bad, I wouldn’t even have bothered sending the card for him!”

“Okay, who are you talking about?” Jess asked, crouching down next to her seat and trying to follow her eyeline. “D, seriously, what did you do?”

“I’m talking about Davey!” she explained, pointing towards him with her whole arm. “You know he’s completely in love with Sara March, right? _Everybody_ knows!”

“Does Sara March know?” asked Rory curiously, glancing from an awkward looking Davey across about six feet of space to the girl in question.

“She should, you know, since I sent the Valentine card with Davey’s name in it. I told him he couldn’t fail if he would just actually talk to her. If he won her a bear or asked her to dance or something, he’d be golden.”

Jess closed his eyes and fought to urge to scream. He really was so uncomfortable with his ten-year-old sister playing matchmaker for young teens, no matter how good she might prove to be at it.

“Yeah, I don’t think golden is going to happen,” said Rory then, jabbing Jess in the shoulder until he opened his eyes and looked again.

He soon saw exactly what she had, Davey heaving a big sigh and walking in the opposite direction away from Sara, who was so deeply in conversation with two of her girl-friends that she didn’t even notice he had ever been there.

“Poor Davey,” Rory said sadly.

“I’ll go talk to him,” said Doula, immediately on her feet, but Jess pushed her right back down into her seat without a moment’s pause.

“Nope, sorry. No more matchmaking today,” he insisted. “We need you here.”

“For what?” his sister countered, looking from Jess to Rory and back. “You’re handing out pie. You don’t need me for that.”

“Yes, actually, we really, really do,” Rory said fast, ushering Doula in behind the table and effectively trapping her there between herself and Jess. “Because I made a bet with your brother that women were just better at selling pie than men and, so far, he’s sold more slices, so I need your help.”

It was pretty lame as excuses went, or so Jess thought. Even at ten (and a half, as she would tell you at every opportunity) Doula was bound to see through it. Jess soon realised how wrong he was as his little sister began giving Rory all her best advice on attracting friends and influencing people. They would probably sell the whole table full of pie in an hour, if she had her way.

Rolling his eyes, Jess turned away to look to his own kids.

“Hey, Tor?” he called to his daughter.

“Yeah, Dad,” she replied, though her eyes never left the page.

“Promise me that whatever Doula says to you about guys, you’ll ignore it, at least until you’re twenty-one?”

Tori looked up from her book then, wearing a serious frown. Jess realised too late she probably hadn’t heard any of what was said before, as engrossed as she was in reading. He might actually have made this whole situation infinitely worse for himself.

“Okay,” she said eventually, nodding her head.

“Good girl,” he replied with a sigh of relief. “You can go back to reading now.”

“Actually, I’m kinda thirsty,” said Tori, closing up her book. “Is it okay if I go over to Aunt Sookie’s lemonade stand and get a drink?”

“Sure,” Jess agreed easily. “You need money?”

“I have some, thanks, Daddy,” she said with a winning smile as she got up and practically skipped off across the square.

“I’ll go with her,” said Jack, seemingly reaching the end of his chapter and closing his book too. “Hey, wait up, Toria!” he yelled, giving chase.

“You going too, Billy?” Jess asked Rory’s brother.

“Nah, I’m not thirsty,” he said, eyes glued to his video game yet, tongue poking out of his mouth as he concentrated harder on a tricky part.

“Well, guess we don’t have to worry about him and girls just yet,” Jess muttered to himself going back to manning the pie stand with Rory and Doula.

Across the square, Tori arrived at the lemonade stand with Jack right on her heels.

“Hey, Aunt Sookie! Two lemonades please.”

“Well, hello, sweetheart. I’ll get you those drinks in just a sec, okay?” she told them with a kind smile, giving all her attention to cleaning up Jaime’s face and hands.

Her youngest daughter had clearly got into some serious fun at the face-painting table, trying to do her own thing instead of letting the professionals do their job. Tori didn’t comment, just moved closer to her brother and spoke quietly to him.

“We have to help Davey,” she said definitely.

“Toria, it’s none of our business,” he told her firmly. “Besides, what do you know about helping a person get a date?”

“Not much,” she admitted, shrugging her shoulders. “I just know that everything Doula was doing to try to help was not working at all. It seems really unfair that a nice guy like Davey can’t be with the girl he likes most, and on Valentine’s Day too.”

Jack sighed knowing she had a point, not that he really knew how to help either. Sure, he had seen plenty of movies and read plenty of books where the guy got the girl in the end, but that was never his favourite part of the story. Besides, he was pretty sure in real life you didn’t need to shoot a bad guy or storm a castle or do a big song and dance number to get a girl to like you.

“Jack, we have to do something!” Tori insisted, actually jumping up and down by now and pulling on his shirt. “Think!”

“I’m thinking!” he told her definitely, paying Aunt Sookie for the lemonade she then handed them.

“What’s the problem, honey?” she asked Tori then. “You seem kinda frustrated.”

“It’s nothing,” the little girl told her, shaking her head. “I just... um, well, how did you know Uncle Jackson liked you when you were young, Aunt Sookie?”

The way she laughed very loudly confused the kids a little bit, but then she sobered up and apologised for the outburst before finally answering the question.

“Well, with Jackson... I don’t know, I guess we just always knew we liked each other. You know, he always brought the best produce to the inn, saved it all for me because he liked me so much. It was very sweet. Come on, you’re not into all that stuff already, are you, Tori?” she asked the nine-year-old then. “Or is it Jack here that’s having his first big crush?” she teased.

“Not me,” he insisted, shaking his head.

“Hey, guys!”

Before Sookie could ask any more questions, Steve and Kwan came rushing over to talk to Jack and Tori, with Martha bringing up the rear, struggling to keep pace.

“My brother... is... such a dinkus!” she declared, gasping in breaths.

“That’s not fair,” Steve told her, shaking his head. “Davey’s not a dinkus, he’s just... not very good at talking to girls anymore.”

“It happens when you’re a teenager,” said Kwan sagely. “Mom told me.”

“Somebody should help him.” Tori sighed. “He’s so sad and I want him to be happy.”

As the kids all tried their best to come up with a plan, arguing about the best way to help Davey, they completely missed the part where Sara March walked right by them. She strolled on up to where Davey was hanging out alone on the gazebo steps, sat down beside him and tapped him on the shoulder until he looked her way.

“Hi,” she said, smiling widely, showing off her impressive set of braces.

“H-Hey, Sara.” Davey stammered. “Um, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she told him, giggling prettily. “I, uh... I was going to thank you for the card you sent me, but something tells me it wasn’t really from you, so...”

“Oh, um... well, I didn’t think-”

“It’s okay,” she said when he floundered a little in his response. “I don’t need a card or anything. That stuff is for losers, but I was thinking of maybe going on the Ferris wheel, and I’m a little afraid of heights. So, I thought, since you never seem to be afraid of anything, maybe you would wanna come with me? You know, so I won’t be scared. What do you think?”

If Davey was still breathing, he didn’t know how. Since no words were forthcoming, he just nodded his head, grinning like a fool as Sara rushed off towards the Ferris wheel, clearly expecting him to follow. He went willingly, and so fast, he almost knocked poor Tori flying in his rush. He called an apology back to her, not even stopping for a second to hear her reply.

“Oh, my goodness!” she gasped, pointing with her whole arm. “Look!”

Everybody looked, everybody stared, and everybody smiled as they watched Davey and Sara sit down in the next available bucket on the Ferris wheel together, both grinning like fools. Maybe Davey didn’t need their help after all.


	9. Fools for Love - 17th March 2025

The moment the door opened, he smiled, hoping against hope he might get the same reaction back, even though he had no right to expect she would be pleased to see him.

“Hi.”

“Oh, hi. What are you doing here?”

“I, uh... I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?”

Tori looked uncertain about that, looking over her shoulder as if to check for anybody else who might object. Then she turned back to him and slowly nodded.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Dax sighed with relief as he crossed the threshold into the Mariano home. It had taken a few months for him to get here, to a place where he felt like he knew what he needed to say and that it might actually make sense to the person he was saying it to.

Strange really, because he had been pretty sure after barely a few hours of telling Tori they should take a break that it was probably the wrong decision, and just a couple of days after that, to begin to be sure about it.

The problems then were two-fold. One, he really didn’t want to have to admit he was wrong, and two, he didn’t think she would be prepared to listen even if he tried. Now, things were different.

“You know, you’re lucky my dad and Jack aren’t here,” Tori said as they sat down at either end of the couch. “Actually, you’re pretty lucky that none of my family are here. You’re not exactly their favourite person right now.”

“I believe that.” Dax nodded, sure it was true. “But, uh, I actually made sure nobody else was here before I came over.”

Tori actually almost laughed when he said that, though he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. She certainly didn’t look at all comfortable yet, arms hugging herself and face mostly turned away from him. Not that he could blame her. Most of this was definitely his own fault.

Dax could hardly believe what he had traded for Tori in the breakup - a little extra spare time to study, which he barely needed, and the chance to go out partying with his college buddies, hitting on girls that he didn’t even care about.

It seemed right to try and embrace the social stuff in college, his dad even told him he probably should. After all, most people didn’t marry their high school sweetheart and live happily ever after, it just didn’t happen. Sometimes it was good to get some different experiences in life, so he said. All Dax knew was that he missed Tori and he had been a prize idiot to ever think that he wanted to be without her.

“So,” she said after a while. “I’m guessing you came here for a reason?”

“I did,” Dax agreed. “I came to tell you that... well, I was an idiot, Tori. I don’t even know what happened... or maybe I do, but all the reasons I thought mattered so much, all the stuff I said about us maybe being better off apart, it was crazy,” he admitted, realising now that for all the practising he had done for this speech he had to give, now he was here, it was better just to speak from the heart. “Tori, you have to know that the last two months, they have been the absolute worst for me.”

“Yeah, because they’ve been just peachy for me,” she countered, looking angry yet. “I didn’t ask you to break up with me, Dax. You did that on your own.”

“I know that, and that’s why I’m telling you, I’m an idiot. Come on, Tori, you know I’m not the best with words, although... well, I have this for you,” he said then, pulling the flashdrive from his pocket and holding it out to her. “It’s a song,” he explained as she stared at the drive and then finally took it out of his hand. “Like I said, I’m bad at words, you know that better than anyone, so the lyrics probably suck, but I mean all of them. Every badly worded apology and promise.”

He almost laughed when he said it because he felt so dumb and was sure everything he was saying sounded foolish. It didn’t matter anymore. All Dax wanted was for Tori to be understanding and forgiving, to tell him she still loved him even though he had been such a complete jerk to her. He probably didn’t deserve that, but it was all he wanted.

Tori sighed and shook her head, finally meeting his eyes with tears evident in her own.

“I don’t need a song, Dax,” she told him. “I wasn’t looking for that much effort, I just... I wanted to know you were still with me, you know? It was hard enough when you went away to college, but I was so proud of my boyfriend who got into Northeastern and was doing what he wanted to do with his life. It’s not like I didn’t know it would be hard, doing long distance and making it work, but I tried. I did my part.”

“You did,” he agreed easily. “You did try so hard and I know it would’ve been so easy for you to just give up on me and find some other guy. I mean, look at you, you’re beautiful, and you’re so smart and funny and great. Plus you’re a senior now, I just know all the guys must be thinking about asking you to prom and everything.”

“Are you kidding?” Tori asked, wide-eyed with surprise at that last remark. “If you think I am going to go to prom with any of those stupid boys at Stars Hollow High, then you really are an idiot,” she told him definitely.

Dax sighed with relief at hearing that. Though it wasn’t proof positive that she still planned to have him take her - something they had been planning ever since she accompanied him to his prom two years before - it was something to know she hadn’t started looking elsewhere. He never would have accused her of that, of course, but the thought had crossed his mind. After all, she had every right after the way he treated her.

“So, basically,” said Dax then, “I’m here to apologise, profusely, to explain myself, if you even wanna hear that, and to ask you if maybe we could put the past two months behind us and just be us again?”

Tori looked at him and then away again, seemingly thinking pretty hard about what he was asking of her. He supposed she deserved to have a little time to consider. After all, Dax knew he was coming here, he was prepared, while she was completely surprised, and it showed.

“Okay,” she said after a while, sparing him a glance. “Explain,” she said like a command, sitting back against the cushions facing him, her gaze steely at best.

“Explain?” he echoed, knowing what she meant, not least because he just offered to give an explanation and everything, but he hadn’t quite expected her to ask for it just like that. “Okay, so... it’s not actually all that easy to explain. Like I said, ‘I was an idiot’ covers most of it,” he admitted. “I guess I was just stressing out over school, you know, classes and studying and everything, it was getting on top of me last semester, and then the guys in the frat were... well, the truth is, they were making fun of me a lot for having a girlfriend in high school, especially when they found out how long we’d been together, and I know it was really, really uncool of me, but I started to listen and wonder if they had a point about it being... kinda weird and stupid, which I know it totally wasn’t, or isn’t,” he said really fast before Tori could jump in and be angry with him for the mere suggestion their relationship wasn’t all good back then. “See, I said I would explain and then when you ask me to, I screw it up,” he said with a sigh.

“You’re not screwing it up,” Tori told him softly, swiping a stray tear from under her left eye. “Actually, as much as I wasn’t going to admit this, I get it, because I had people whispering in my ear too,” she explained, surprising Dax to no end. “Not my family, not really, but some of the girls in school. They tried to tell me I shouldn’t trust you, you know, when you were away in college. Slutty girls and keg parties and dorm rooms and everything, makes it pretty easy for a guy to...” she trailed off, making some vague gesture with her hand.

“You thought I would cheat on you?”

Dax wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He wanted to be mad at her for ever considering it, but was it so much worse than him starting to believe their relationship was pointless and stupid? Maybe they were both as bad as each other for allowing themselves to be influenced by others.

“I didn’t seriously think that you would actually do anything like that,” Tori told him, sniffing hard. “It’s just... they put the idea in my head, and at first, I told them they were crazy and they didn’t really know you, so how would they even know if you were the type to cheat? Of course, they said all guys cheat, which isn’t even true, because I know for a fact that my dad and my grandpa and my uncles, well, none of them would ever do that, but anyway,” she continued with a sigh. “I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t let myself, until suddenly you seemed to... It was like you would make any excuse not to see me. We talked about me coming to visit and it never happened. You’d say you were coming home and we’d spend all this time together and then...”

“And then, it never happened,” he said for her, echoing her earlier words. “Yeah, I guess I see why you might think what you thought.”

“But I can also see why you might start believing it was dumb to date a high school girl.” Tori shrugged. “I bet the girls in college don’t get crazy jealous and possessive over nothing,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Dax took a chance and shifted closer to her on the couch. “Hey, maybe I like crazy jealous and possessive,” he told her with a smirk.

When Tori turned to look and saw the expression on his face, she actually laughed.

“You’re right, you _are_ an idiot,” she told him straight, though she was smiling still and that seemed like an awfully good sign to Dax. “But since we talked it out, and neither one of us was exactly taking the best advice or being our best selves, maybe we should just put the whole mess behind us. I mean, we could, right?”

“I think so.” Dax nodded, meeting her eyes. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, Tori.”

“How much?” she asked, her words barely a whisper between them, they were just that close.

When Dax closed the gap and finally kissed her, Tori didn’t protest, in fact she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back like her life depended on it.

“Okay,” he gasped as they parted several minutes later. “That feels a lot like forgiveness.”

“It is,” she assured him, smiling as she used her thumb to wipe pink gloss off his bottom lip. “Just please, next time, can we both make a promise to talk about this stuff instead of just worrying about it to the point of fighting and breaking up? Because these past two months, they have really, _really_ sucked.”

“You’re not kidding” said Dax, “and yes, it’s a deal. From now on we talk, except... well, you didn’t have anything you needed to talk about right now, right?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

“No,” Tori confessed, clearly knowing exactly what he meant, “but that doesn’t mean what you think it means,” she told him definitely. “I have something way more important to do than make out with you, mister,” she said, pulling out of his grasp before he could hardly react.

“Seriously?” he checked, eyes widening even further as she got up, grabbed her laptop from the coffee table and threw herself into the nearby armchair.

He watched her pull the flashdrive he had given her from her pocket and push it into the USB port.

“You wrote a song for me and I want to hear it,” Tori told him with a wide smile. “I’ll bet it’s awesome.”

“You’re saying that because you know the lyrics are gonna suck.” Dax literally facepalmed. “You know I can only write decent songs with you.”

“I know,” Tori continued to grin. “That’s half the fun.”

Dax kept his face hidden as the song started and stayed that way until it was almost over. Then he dared to peek over the top of his fingers to see Tori’s reaction. He wasn’t expecting the tears on her cheeks and was immediately concerned then that she was truly upset again. When finally the song concluded, he opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but never got the chance.

In a second, the laptop was abandoned back on the table and Tori was practically on top of him, kissing him breathless. Not that Dax was in any way wanting to argue with her, but he could taste the salt on her lips and needed to know what that was about.

“Hey, so, the song...?” he checked, pushing her gently away for a moment and meeting her gaze.

“You write better lyrics when you write from the heart,” she told him, swallowing hard. “If I didn’t know before how sorry you were or how much you love me, I guess I do now.”

“I do love you, Tori,” he promised her, his hand at her cheek. “More than anyone or anything.”

“Yeah, I get that,” she agreed. “And I love you too,” she swore, falling back into his embrace.

The two of them were soon lost in a feeling they had gone too long without, but never again. Neither of them were ever going to be so foolish a second time.


	10. It’s Alright Baby - 5th February 2009

It started out as a few days, maybe a week, tops, but time rolled on and now it was more than two weeks since the day Luke had brought Doula home and asked Lorelai if she would mind if the little girl stayed a while. Of course, it never even crossed her mind to turn the poor kid away. At only two-and-a-half years old, thankfully, Doula didn’t know much about what had happened, except that Daddy was gone away and Mommy was sad.

“I honestly don’t know who I’m more mad at,” said Luke, not for the first time, as he and Lorelai watched Doula and Billy play happily on the rug. “TJ for walking out or Liz for handling it so badly.”

“These things are never easy,” his wife told him with a sigh, letting her head drop onto his shoulder and keeping her voice low. “I mean, you’d think they would both try harder for the kid, but let me tell you, great as babies are at reminding you that you have responsibilities, sometimes it can feel like way too much.”

“Come on.” Luke rolled his eyes. “You would never, ever have abandoned Rory in any way, and you were just a kid yourself when you had her.”

“Yeah, but I’m amazing,” she quipped, though the smile that went with the smart remark didn’t last. “Luke, I’m not Liz and she’s not me, which is a really good thing given she’s your sister and I’m your wife,” she considered, making a face. “Anyway, my point is you can’t judge her on what I would do or what you would do. It’s not the same.”

“She has a kid, she should be responsible!” Luke snapped, lowering his voice again in a second when he realised he had gained both Billy and Doula’s attention too. “It was bad enough when she screwed up so bad with Jess. I made some excuses for her - she was young, she was abandoned by Jimmy - but this time, Lorelai, this time she swore it was going to be different.”

“I know.” Lorelai nodded.

Truthfully, she had no idea what she was supposed to say to make it better. When Jess had called, almost three weeks ago now, asking what they knew about the situation with his mom and TJ, Luke and Lorelai had both been oblivious. Jess said he had gone around to the house to pick up Doula but there was no answer so he figured they were out, but when he called later to find out what had happened, he got no answer then either.

Luke and Jess ended up going over together, just in case something really was wrong. They heard Doula first, screaming and crying like the world was ending. Jess rushed right upstairs to find her standing in her crib, clearly very distressed. It was Luke who had found Liz, slumped over the kitchen table, a smashed bottle of booze on the floor nearby and pills scattered everywhere.

The whole situation had been such an unholy mess. Thankfully, when they got Liz to the hospital, it was all alcohol poisoning, which was bad enough, but at least she hadn’t got as far as actually taking the pills. All this because TJ had walked out. God only knew what the stupid oaf’s reason was. If Liz knew, she never told anyone.

“I’m guessing when you called in on Liz today, she wasn’t much better?” Lorelai asked then, already sure she knew the answer before Luke ever spoke up.

He heaved an almighty sigh and ran a hand over his face. “She was... Liz,” he said hopelessly. “Not drunk, which is better, I guess, but still with the crying and the rambling about not knowing what she’s going to do without him.”

“And she still won’t tell you what happened?”

“Nope, not a word.”

“Must’ve been bad.”

“I swear, if I ever get a hold of that guy-”

“Easy, tiger,” Lorelai advised, particularly aware of little ears as her husband’s voice rose in volume again. “Come on, this isn’t your fight. Sure, we need to help Liz get back on her feet, and we’ll take care of the little one for as long as she needs, obviously, but you already know TJ didn’t physically hurt her or anything, so let’s keep all thoughts of knee-cap removal to a minimum, huh?”

Luke didn’t answer, just grumbled some as he got up and said he had paperwork to do. Lorelai watched him disappear into the study then looked back to where the kids were playing happily yet. She frowned a little on realising that the happy part of that equation seemed to have gone away while she wasn’t paying attention.

“Hey, sweetie,” she said, getting down onto the ground by Doula. “What’s up, baby girl?”

“Want Mommy,” she said, sniffling a little, gripping the doll in her arms for all it was worth.

“Aww, come on,” Lorelai said softly, picking Doula up into her lap and giving her a hug. “Mommy’s still not feeling too well, so we need to give her a little more time to get better, but it’s okay. You don’t have to worry about anything, because I’m here, and so is Uncle Luke, and Billy. You’re okay, honey,” she promised, kissing the top of the little girl’s head even as she continued to whimper over wanting her mom.

Billy had carried on playing at first, but when he realised quite how upset Doula was getting, he picked himself up and toddled closer, tilting his head as he stared at her.

“Doo-da?” he said, tapping her on the shoulder until she finally peeked out from the circle of Lorelai’s arms. “Want it?” he asked her, holding out his best toy car.

She just looked at him at first, then swallowed hard and nodded her head.

“Ta,” she said, taking the car and holding it tight, alongside her doll.

“Good boy,” Lorelai told her son with a wide smile. “That was really nice of you. I know Doula appreciates it, right, kid?”

“Uh-huh,” Doula agreed, though it was clear she wasn’t ready to let go of Auntie Lorelai just yet.

It was completely understandable. Poor kid had a tough enough time with her wacky parents anyway, or so Lorelai figured. Still, it had to be worse not even having mom and dad around. They did love her, there was no doubting that, but it was tough to figure out why they couldn’t behave like adults and do better by her if she really meant so much to them.

After a while, at the coaxing of both Billy and Lorelai, Doula did return to the rug and whatever game a pair of two-year olds played together. Lorelai was sure she didn’t understand it, but they seemed to like it well enough. She moved to sit back on the couch then, watching the kids every now and then over the top of _Marie Claire_. Not that her mind was really on the articles she was trying to read.

What Luke had said to her kept coming back to mind. How she never would’ve abandoned Rory. He was right, of course, but she also noted, as she thought on it some, that the same could be said for Luke. He had really been there for Rory himself, albeit not until they met when the kid was eleven. Just as soon as he was given the opportunity, he stepped up for both Jess and April too. It seemed strange that Liz was so completely different, especially when her former hoodlum son had turned out to be such a good father himself.

A knock on the front door was swiftly followed by somebody letting themselves in. That meant one of two people and Lorelai wasn’t entirely surprised when she turned around and saw who was there.

“Talk of the devil,” she said with a smile as Jess wandered into the living room.

“Jessy!” Doula’s face lit up the second she realised her brother was there.

She scrambled to get to her feet and come running. Jess wasted no time in picking her up and flinging her into the air as she giggled and screamed with joy.

“Hey, D,” he greeted her with a kiss on her cheek. “You doing okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed, nodding her head. “Love Jessy,” she declared then, hugging him tight.

“Yeah, love you too, sis,” he promised, holding her tight. “Hey, Lorelai.”

“Hey. You came just at the right time,” she told him, moving over on the couch so he could sit down if he wanted.

“Talk of the devil?” he said with a questioning look.

“Old habits die hard,” she said, shaking her head. “I was actually just thinking what amazing fathers have come out of the Danes clan. You, Luke, your grandfather too, from what Luke tells me.”

“Shame about some of the mothers, right?” he said, rolling his eyes, even as he returned Doula to the rug, reluctant as she was to let go of him.

“I’m sorry, Jess.” Lorelai sighed. “I don’t mean to be mean about Liz...”

“Hey, don’t stop on my account,” he told her easily. “She is what she is, and as mother’s go, she’s not exactly a winner. You know, I think it’s amazing that you agreed to take D in like this. Two two-year-olds at once?”

“The phrase ‘double trouble’ exists for a reason,” she agreed heartily, “but honestly, they’re not so bad. Mostly they entertain themselves and each other, and yes, we have a few tears and wobbly moments but, well, it’s family. What are you gonna do?” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s not like you wouldn’t have taken her if you could, but you have two already.”

“Yeah, three under-fives might actually kill me and Rory both.” Jess nodded. “But two this size still has to be tough, with the inn and the diner and all.”

“Jess, it’s fine,” Lorelai assured him, patting his knee. “And before you know it, your mom will be better, maybe TJ will even come home, and everything will be back to normal.”

Jess’ eyes widened a little at that remark. “Normal? In this family? In this town?” he checked, smirking terribly.

“Yeah, well.” Lorelai rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. Anyway, if and when TJ does come back, I don’t have to give you the same warning as your uncle, right? You know, the one about leaving his kneecaps attached?”

“Hey, the guy is an idiot, but I have no violent tendencies where he’s concerned,” Jess assured her. “Liz already promised me he never laid a hand on her that way. Honestly, I’d be less surprised if she took out some frustration on him. Anyway, if he comes back and they figure things out, so be it, and if they don’t, whatever,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I just wanna know D is okay.”

“We all want that,” Lorelai agreed, “and I promise you, between us, we will make sure that she is, always.”

She hoped that he believed her, because Lorelai really did mean every word. No, she never abandoned her child, but she and Rory weren’t exactly in the best place when Lorelai first ran away from home. Back then, she had Mia to take care of her, and later, her parents came back into her life and did their part. If Lorelai and Luke, Jess and Rory could all pitch in for Doula, then they would. No matter what happened with Liz and TJ, this kid was not going to fall through the cracks and feel alone, not ever. That was a promise they had all made and would most definitely be keeping.


	11. Women of the World - 1st September 2014

“Congratulations, Paris. I honestly couldn’t be happier for you”

“Geez, Gilmore, dial down the wattage on the smile, you’re blinding me,” her friend told her, rolling her eyes at the other end of their video chat. “Seriously, anybody would think getting pregnant was such an achievement.”

“For some people, it is,” Rory reminded her. “We are truly blessed to have our kids, Paris, you know this. Some people try and try and never get lucky.”

“Yeah, I know.” Paris sighed. “And it’s not as if I hate that it happened again, it’s just, my God, the incompetence at the hospital the last time, I’m dreading the birth.”

Rory didn’t even try to answer that one. Nothing she said about the medical profession was going to matter to Paris, because she just knew better. Besides, it was always easier not to have an argument with her, if it could possibly be avoided, because it pretty much never ended well.

“Is Doyle excited?” Rory asked instead.

“Bouncing around like a leprechaun on a sugar high,” Paris confirmed, smiling proudly even as she snarked. “Of course, even as intelligent as he is, Jonathan doesn’t understand the implications yet. I actually think having the two so close together will be a good thing. It worked for you with Jack and Tori.”

“They are pretty close, in age and in a good brother-sister relationship way,” Rory confirmed. “Hey, I just realised you called me Gilmore twice in this conversation already. Eight years, Paris,” she said, pushing her ring finger into the camera lens. “I have been a Mariano for eight years now.”

“God help you.”

“Hey!”

“Come on, _Mariano_ ,” she said with emphasis. “You know I always had a soft spot for your rebel, it’s just you’ll always be Rory Gilmore to me. Besides, the world at large is going to know you by that name when your amazing journalism career really takes off.”

That remark certainly got Rory’s attention, as she felt a blush rising in her cheeks. Everybody else had so much faith in her abilities when it came to writing and reporting. It wasn’t that Rory didn’t know her own strengths in those areas, but it had been a while since she thought seriously about having a real job and career.

Since she graduated from her college courses in June, she had got a little more serious about it. The kids were nine and almost-seven now, they didn’t need mothering twenty-four-seven, they were at school five days a week and had friends and other family members they wanted to spend with a not-small part of the time. There was absolutely no reason why she couldn’t do more with her life than she currently was, and so, she started trying.

“That piece you sent me about the legalisation of same-sex marriage was some of your best work. It deserved to be seen everywhere.”

Rory smiled and thanked her friend, even as she blushed all over again. She knew she had written a good piece and was happy to see it published on the blog she wrote it for. Then suddenly it was getting picked up and reposted, even published in print in a few magazines and papers, until Rory started to feel almost like a household name. It was only one article, of course, but it got her noticed by some people. Her freelance journalism career had gotten off to a really great start.

“I’m actually working on a couple things right now,” she explained to Paris then. “A fun pop culture piece about the rise of the comic book movie, and also, the serious effects of ALS juxtaposed against the internet meme craziness of The Ice Bucket Challenge.”

It took a lot to impress Paris, it wasn’t as if Rory wasn’t aware of that, so the fact that she thought these were great subjects and was already certain her friend would make a good job of her articles was really something.

“Of course, it could be that the pregnancy hormones are already kicking in and making her nicer than usual,” Rory mused when she told Mrs Rossini about it later that day.

“No, no. Paris, she is a nice girl,” Mrs R said definitely, as she poured out coffee for herself and Rory. “She speaks her mind, that is no bad thing, but you know she loves you like a sister would.”

There was no way Rory could deny that was true. She had gotten pretty lucky when it came to her family and not just the blood-related people either.

“I think you’re going to have a wonderful career, passerotta,” said Mrs R then, handing her young friend a cup. “I admit, I do not know much about these things you write about, but you have such a mind, such a way of talking, I know you must write the same way. Molto bene,” she said definitely.

“Thank you, Mrs R.” Rory smiled. “Honestly, I’m getting so much praise, everyone has so much confidence in me.”

“And for good reason! You are a special talent, but you don’t let it go to your head, and that is important too.”

“I just hope I can balance everything. I mean, yes, I do have more time now that Jack and Tori are both in school all the time, and they don’t need me 24/7 even when they’re home, but I really don’t want them to feel neglected or anything if I have to work while they’re around.”

“You will manage,” Mrs R told her definitely. “I cannot give the advice on this since I didn’t have the children or the career, but this is something you can look to your mother for. Lorelai, she has done amazing things, raising you and educating herself and keeping a job. Did you ever feel neglected?”

“Not once,” said Rory, shaking her head. “Mom was always there for me.”

“And you will continue to be there for your children too,” her friend said with certainty, taking a drink from her coffee cup. “You know, I probably should’ve had some career in my life. After my Gennaro passed away, I knew that family was never going to be for me, not with another. Of course, I came by children and grandchildren another way,” she said, smiling fondly at Rory then. “Since I always expected to be wife and mother when I was young, I had no real plans for work. I am boring old woman, I never had ambitions at all.”

“You never once had a dream job that you really wanted to do?” asked Rory curiously.

She knew Mrs Rossini had lived a pretty quiet life, or as quiet as it could be in New York City, but she had just assumed that any plans she might’ve had just went awry. That was sad enough, but to think she never even had a dream in the first place seemed worse somehow, at least to Rory anyway.

“I did plenty of fine jobs,” Mrs R told her happily. “I waited on tables, cleaned houses, took good care of bambinos. I did all kinds of things. I even taught a little piano for a while.”

“Huh. I didn’t know you could play.”

“Oh, not anymore,” her friend explained, showing Rory one of her hands that was a little bent out of shape. “These hands would not manage, and even when I was young, I was amateur only, but enough to teach the children their basics. I could not have been in a concert hall, but as I tell you, I never had that dream, not any dream for working. I made enough money to get by, that was all.”

Rory wished she knew what to say to that. She felt so sorry for Mrs Rossini, knowing she never got the big career or the family either. Still, it was tough to feel genuinely sad for somebody who always seemed so happy. Perhaps it was wrong to judge Mrs R’s life based on her own goals and ambitions. Rory was used to people like her mom and Paris who really wanted big things out of life. It hadn’t entirely occurred to her that some people could be happy with less.

“Do not look so sad for me, bella,” Mrs R insisted, patting Rory’s hand. “You know, I have lived eighty-nine years on this earth so far and I can speak honestly when I say I do not regret one single day of any of those years” she promised, smiling widely. “I have had my hardships, but who has not had these? Sometimes, I wonder how life would be if my Gennaro had come home to me. I could have had a daughter, a son, grandchildren of my own. I could have kept a nice house and grown old with my love at my side. Ah, it is a pretty picture to make in my head, but when that dream died with him, I just lived my little life alone,” she said, shrugging her old shoulders. “But you see, Rory, in the end, I got my dream, or some part of it. For years now, I have you and Jess, and your mamma and Luke, and all the children. So much family, so much to keep me busy and happy. I can have no regrets.”

There were tears in Rory’s eyes as she grabbed onto Mrs R’s hand and squeezed it.

“I love that you’re part of our family,” she said definitely. “You know, you are as much of an inspiration to me as my mom or my grandma or Sookie or Lane or Paris. I have so many good, strong, female role models, but you are right up there on the list, Mrs R.”

“Then I am flattered to be in such good company,” her friend told her, smiling widely.

She got up to clear away the coffee things then, taking the tray through to the kitchen. Rory barely noticed the going of her, until she heard Mrs R call that she would do the dishes before she went home. Getting up to follow her, Rory stood in the kitchen doorway, staring hard at her friend for a moment.

“You know, you don’t have to do that,” she said eventually.

“Hush, now,” Mrs R shushed her. “You know I do not like to be so idle.”

The remark made Rory laugh out loud, though her hand went immediately to her mouth to cover the outburst. It was true enough, what Mrs R said. Though she had no family of her own and no career to speak of, she had certainly never been idle. She was so alive and full of energy, even at the age of almost ninety. She loved every member of Rory and Jess’ sprawling family tree as if they were her own and was undoubtedly one of the most impressive, amazing women that Rory had ever met.

“Mrs Rossini, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, bella. What is it?” she asked, drying her hands off on a dishtowel.

Rory took a deep breath and then spoke. “Would you mind if I wrote an article about you and your life?”

She expected her to say no at first, or rather to ask why Rory would want to write about her and more over, who on earth would want to read such a thing. She had her answers ready somehow, even though the thought to do this had only occurred to her somewhere between the living room and the kitchen. Still, she made her arguments well, as Rory always did, and after a few minutes, Mrs R heaved out a sigh.

“Well, if you are sure,” she declared, “I would be honoured to have you write about me.”

There was no doubt in Rory’s mind, as she smiled and hugged her friend, thanking her for the opportunity, that it would be one of the best and most interesting articles of her burgeoning career.


	12. Bundles of Joy - 1st March 2025

“Well, how does it feel, Grandpa?” Lorelai asked as she came into the kitchen, pretty sure she had seen Luke wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his usual plaid shirt just as she entered.

“I’m sorry, what?” he asked, turning away and pretending to hunt for something in the fridge.

“Come on, Luke,” his wife said, rolling her eyes as she moved over to him and turned him around to face her. “Kind of a big deal, meeting your granddaughter,” she insisted, putting her arms around him.

“We already have two grandchildren, Lorelai,” he reminded her with a look. “Rory and Jess saw to that a long time ago. The whole grandpa thing doesn’t even seem like a big deal anymore,” he insisted, sparing her a quick kiss before he pulled out of her grasp and made himself busy again.

She smiled at his words, but knew it wasn’t the whole truth. Of course, Lorelai loved that Luke considered Jack and Tori to be his grandkids. They had always called him ‘Grandpa Luke’ and nobody even batted an eye. After all, he was married to Lorelai, had a hand in raising both Rory and Jess to be the people they were today, so it made sense. Still, by blood and biology, Luke was never really, technically, a grandfather, not until a couple of weeks ago.

“It’s different, Luke,” Lorelai said from behind him, perching herself on the edge of the table and watching his back as he fixed drinks and snacks for those gathered in the next room. “You’re allowed to feel different about it. I’m not going to judge or be upset, because I get it.”

There was a silence before he finally huffed out a breath and turned around with a serving dish in each hand.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, indicating with his head that she should move so he could put down said dishes.

That was when Lorelai started to get a little ticked.

“Hey,” she said crossly, pulling on his sleeve the moment his hands were empty. “Since when was lying allowed in this marriage?” she asked as he met her gaze.

Luke opened his mouth, to make further denials, she was sure, but the words never came. He must have seen how serious she was about this, and for once in her life, Lorelai really was that serious, because this was a big deal.

Heaving a sigh, Luke looked to the tile and shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” his wife insisted, her hands at his cheeks, bringing his head back up so he would look at her again, “just be honest. It’s a big deal, right?”

“It’s... I don’t even know what it is,” Luke admitted then, his voice low, “except... she looks like my mom.”

“Your mom?” Lorelai echoed, a little surprised by the truth she actually was getting now.

“Yeah. I can’t even explain it,” said Luke, adjusting his hat. “I mean she was a grown woman the whole time I knew her, obviously, and Anna-Marie is this little chubby bundle, but somehow, I look at her and I see Mom.”

“Wow. That’s.... wow,” said Lorelai with a smile. “You know, I just know your parents are so proud of you,” she told her husband then, arms going up around his neck as his hands rested at her waist. “Of course, I never met either of them, but given the kind of guy you are, I can just imagine how great they were, and it sucks that I never actually got to know them, but yeah, I just know they’re proud,” she said definitely, not doubting herself for a second.

It was good to see Luke smile back at her, clearly touched by her words.

“Thank you,” he told her softly, leaning down to plant a kiss on her lips.

Honestly, as much as she enjoyed the kissing and the smiling and the being close with Luke, as much now as ever, it meant more to Lorelai that she had got him to open up about Anna-Marie. It was always one of the hardest parts with her husband and was still infuriating to her, no matter how much she loved him or how many years they had been married.

“So, I should take the snacks...” said Luke then, turning out of Lorelai’s arms.

She let him get back to the food because nobody wanted hungry guests and there was quite the number squashed into the next room. April and Paul plus the baby, then Billy, of course, and also Rory, Jess, and Tori who had come to meet the new addition too.

The Crap Shack was so often busy with family and friends. Honestly, Lorelai just loved it.

“Hey.”

Lorelai turned fast to see April framed in the doorway. 

“Hey, sweetie,” she greeted her, even as she moved to help Luke with putting his dishes and bowls onto trays that might make for easier transportation to the living room. “You’re not toting the bundle,” she noted.

“Paul has her, at least until she starts screaming for food again,” April explained, “That’s one thing he’s no good for.”

“Didn’t I teach you anything, kid?” said Lorelai with a look. “Men are only good for one thing, and not all of them are so that good at that.”

“Lorelai!” Luke exclaimed, making both his wife and daughter laugh loudly.

“Take your snacks to the masses, prudish husband,” Lorelai told him, encouraging April to move out the way and let him go, which he did. “Seriously, he is not like that when we’re alone.”

“Probably not too comfortable thinking about sex in front of the daughter,” said April, nodding sagely. “It’s very weird. I mean, how does he think I got him the grandchild if I never had sex?”

“An excellent question,” Lorelai agreed. “Maybe we should ask him, in front of as many people as possible?” she suggested with a wicked grin. “Nah, I don’t want the shock causing some nasty side effect. Your good old dad isn’t getting any younger.”

“Nobody is,” said April with a sigh, looking almost a little too much like that father they were just talking about as she wandered aimlessly along the counter, picking up this and that.

“Hey, April?” said Lorelai, getting her attention back. “You doing okay, honey? Because you seem kind of... I don’t know, dreamy?”

“Listless,” April suggested instead, “or lackadaisical, I love that word.”

“You’d sure win in Scrabble.”

“Actually, it doesn’t score as much as you’d think. Lots of one-point letters.”

Lorelai shook her head. “Well, hello, queen of the tangent,” she said, smiling at her step-daughter. “You wanna tell me what’s up now?”

April sighed again then glanced out into the living room, as if to make sure nobody was about to walk through. She hurried over to Lorelai then and spoke in whispered words.

“Dad is okay with this, right? I mean, me being a mother? It’s kind of hard for me to take it back now, since the deed is done and Anna-Marie is here and everything, but I just feel like he’s being a little... weird,” she explained. “Is he being weird, or is it me? There’s a good chance I’m suffering from post-natal fluctuations in hormones and everything, but he seems weird.”

“He is a little weird today,” Lorelai admitted awkwardly, “but I swear, it’s not you, or that gorgeous kid of yours... or it is, but not in a bad way. Luke is just... being Luke. He’s feeling a little overwhelmed, because hey, grandkid of his very own.”

“I didn’t think it would be such a big deal.” April shook her head. “He already has Jack and Tori calling him ‘Grandpa’.”

“Come on, you know it’s a big deal, April,” said Lorelai with a look. “You know it is and you would be more worried right now if he wasn’t making a big deal.”

“I guess,” her step-daughter agreed. “He is happy though, right?”

“Ecstatic,” Lorelai promised. “You know, in that great, understated, almost invisible way that only Luke Danes can be,” she said with a grin. “Seriously, April, Luke is thrilled to be your dad and Anna-Marie’s grandpa. He’s just processing, but I promise you, everything is good.”

Her arm was around April’s shoulders as she steered her back to the living room then, the two of them stopping sharply when they found that Luke was sat in the middle of the couch with baby Anna-Marie in his arms. She was so small that most of her was actually sitting in his two big and capable hands. It was quite the sight to see.

“She is precious,” said Tori, peering at her from over the back of the couch.

“You do _not_ want one,” Jess told her firmly from his place by Luke. “Not for a long time.”

“He’s not kidding,” Rory added firmly when her daughter giggled.

“Hey, no offence to everybody else in the room and their previous life choices, but I plan to have babies after I graduate high school _and_ college,” said Tori definitely.

“Good choice,” said April with a smile. “Also, no offence intended,” she added fast, glancing between Rory and Lorelai.

“None taken,” they said as one.

“You doing okay, babe?” Paul asked as April moved to perch on the arm of the chair he was sitting in.

“Sure, no problem,” she assured him, kissing his cheek, then turning to look at Luke again. “So, Grandpa Luke,” she said with a smirk that Jess might have been proud of, “you’re not mad that we didn’t get your name in there, right? I mean, we thought about it. After Anna for my mom and Marie for Paul’s mom, there was talk of some version of Luke for you and Alan for Paul’s dad, but neither one really has a female equivalent.”

“You could’ve done with Lucy Alana,” Lorelai suggested.

“Or Lucretia Alina,” said Rory with a giggle.

Tori did not want to be left out of the fun either. “Lucia Ally?”

They all turned to Billy for his suggestions then, but he violently shook his head. “I have no idea.”

“Good answer, son,” Luke told him, before looking at everyone else present. “The rest of you are all crazy, you know that, right?”

“I don’t know what the big deal is,” said Jess then. “There’s an easy female alternative to Luke. Should’ve just called her Leia.”

“Huh.” April looked as if she was seriously considering that one. “Maybe for the next one?”

“Something to consider,” Paul agreed, the two of them nodding their heads.

“Are they just trying to prove my point about the crazy?” Luke asked Lorelai as she perched on the arm of the couch and leaned past Rory to get a better look at the baby.

“No, babe, they’re just trying to drive _you_ crazy, ‘cause it’s kinda fun.”

Luke rolled his eyes and let it go, all his attention returning to little Anna-Marie as she stirred from sleep and looked up at him curiously.

“You’re okay, baby,” he assured her, shushing her when she seemed like she might be about to bawl. “Grandpa has you, you’re good.”

Lorelai knew full well that it was impossible for two-week old babies to actually smile, or have any real expressions actually, but she could’ve sworn the little bundle looked happy as anything to be safe in Grandpa Luke’s hands. She knew that feeling very well herself. Putting trust in Luke was something Lorelai had never regretted. She was sure the same would prove true for little Anna-Marie Farber, just as it had for every other person in that room.


	13. The Great Firefly Debacle - 29th May 2009

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is to answer a question asked of me by several folks waaaay back in ‘Stars Hollow: The Next Generation’. Apologies to anyone who has never had the pleasure of viewing Joss Whedon’s _Firefly_ \- you’re about to get a little confused! lol

“I cannot believe how ridiculous you’re being about this!”

Jess ought to have known that wasn’t a smart thing to say, long before the words ever left his lips, but apparently, he was just dumb today. Possibly not as dumb as his wife was being, but that was a whole other story. He gave chase as she stormed away, from the living room to the kitchen, still with Tori on his hip.

“Why does this even bother you?” Rory asked, turning around so sharply in the kitchen doorway she almost crashed into him. “I don’t understand why you’re making such a huge deal about it!”

“Because _you_ make such a huge deal about it,” Jess countered. “I mean, I know you’re not a major obsessive - you don’t actually own props or swear in Chinese on the regular or anything - but you call yourself a Browncoat. How is that possible?”

“Because I love _Firefly_!” said Rory firmly, just this side of yelling as her arms waved like a crazy windmill full of frustration. “I’ve always loved _Firefly_. Not when it aired, because hey, life was the Chilton type of hectic back then, but when Mom got the boxset on sale and we watched it for the first time together, we were hooked. We love the show, ergo we’re Browncoats, just like everybody else who loves it.”

With that point made, she turned away again, flouncing over to the coffee machine and flipping it on.

“Wow, this argument just got serious,” Jess told Tori in a lower tone, though still loud enough for Rory to hear. “Mommy’s bringing out the big guns - Latin words.”

“Ergo is not a big gun,” Rory told him, rolling her eyes as she glanced at him.

“No, that would be Vera,” said Jess with a smirk, never missing a beat, of course.

“Dada!” Tori yelled right in his ear hugging his neck with her chubby arms. “Jack-jack?” she asked, hands out in a way that meant she was questioning something.

“Jack is on a playdate, baby, but he’ll be home soon,” he assured her, kissing her head as she yawned big. “Hey, how about we put you down for a nap so you won’t be cranky when he comes home. That sound good?”

Tori babbled away like she always did and Jess decided to take that as a positive answer. Before he left the kitchen, he glanced over his shoulder at Rory.

“We’re not done yet,” he told her definitely.

He didn’t hear exactly what she said in reply, but it sounded an awful lot like Chinese, which made him laugh. After all, this really was not a serious argument.

“How can it be when we’re debating a sci-fi Western TV show?” Jess asked Tori as he laid her down in the pop-up crib on the living room floor and kissed her forehead.

She answered him the only way she knew how, with gabbled sounds and the waving of her arms. The only parts of her speech that really made sense when she did that were ‘Dada’, ‘Mama’, and ‘Jack-jack’ most of the time. Jess didn’t care, just so long as she was smiling.

“Sleep now, Tor,” he encouraged her, stroking her hair.

She let out a little sigh and dutifully shut her eyes. She really was tired, he could always tell, before the yawning ever began. A nap would do her good. Besides, a sleeping daughter meant Jess and Rory’s ‘fight’ couldn’t get too crazy. He hoped it wouldn’t anyway, given the subject matter, but his wife was being all kinds of cranky today.

“Maybe she needs a nap too,” Jess said to himself as he headed back to the kitchen.

“You know, you always think you’re right about everything, but you’re not,” said Rory crossly before he had barely stepped onto the linoleum.

“Okay,” he said, nodding once and leaning against the counter top. “First off, I never once tried to say I was right about everything,” he told her then. “In fact, most of the time, I’m the one telling the kids that Mommy knows best. Second, this little back-and-forth whatever it is we’re having right now,” he said, gesturing between them, “is about one thing only, and on that, I am right.”

Rory scoffed loudly the moment she was done drinking her coffee. “You are not right... and I can prove it!” she said as if something just occurred to her.

“Come on, Gilmore, dazzle me,” he dared her with a smirk, knowing that the use of her former last-name would drive her more crazy than anything else.

“Dave Rygalski was a Browncoat,” she said definitely, almost triumphantly.

It took Jess a moment to even remember who Dave was and when he did he found himself frowning.

“Hold on a second, Lane’s high school boyfriend?” he checked. “The guy who took her to Prom?”

“Yes, he was a Browncoat, and he hadn’t seen the movie. Why? Because it wasn’t out yet, but did that mean he wasn’t a fan of _Firefly_? No, of course not.”

Rory stormed past Jess then, back to the living room, and he followed her, mouth open ready to yell a retort until his eyes fell on Tori sleeping soundly in the crib. Growling in his throat, he forced down his frustration and spoke to Rory at a more even level, though he was pretty sure it was still clear to her how annoying she was being.

“You can’t compare you in 2009 with Dave from 2003,” he said definitely. “He was a fan of _Firefly_ when _Firefly_ was all there was. The kind of nerd cred he had underlying the rock and roll thing makes me believe he was first in line on opening night of _Serenity_ , therefore, he was and is a Browncoat. You never saw the freakin’ movie!”

“That doesn’t mean anything!” Rory shot back, too loudly and they both knew it when Tori whimpered and stirred.

The both of them winced before seeming to decide as one that they should just go elsewhere for a while, at least until they finished their ‘discussion’. Rory ran up the stairs first with Jess on her heels. They barely reached the landing before she turned on him again.

“You know this is the world’s dumbest argument, right?”

“I didn’t even know it was an argument,” Jess countered. “As far as I can tell, I’m just stating a fact that you don’t like hearing.”

“It’s not a fact! You do not get to tell me if I love something or not.”

“And I’m not trying to! Rory, you love a TV show, but you never watched the movie. Now, stop me before I start to sound a little too much like Paris, but the word fan comes from the word fanatic, which is why it’s used for someone with a practically obsessive love for something. If you were a true fan of _Firefly_ , which is called a Browncoat, you’d need to see it all, including _Serenity_. Means you’re not a Browncoat, Ror. Here endeth the world’s dumbest argument.”

He moved to go past her then, unsure exactly what he was going to do when he got in the bedroom, but knowing he couldn’t stand here going back and forth with her anymore, and she was in the way of his going down the stairs again.

“Do not walk away from me, Mariano!” she yelled after him, grabbing at him as she followed him into the room.

Losing his balance from the unexpected impact, Jess went sprawling and Rory along with him, the two landing in a tangle of limbs on the bed. Rory shifted as if to get away, and though Jess was genuinely trying to help her, they couldn’t seem to figure out how to get out of what they had gotten into. Her face was so close, he could easily kiss her and decided to do just that. If nothing else was going to end this really stupid argument, he was pretty sure that would.

At first, he half-expected her to pull away, angry at him for trying to win a fight by playing dirty. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he had. Of course, she was sometimes guilty of the same. When she responded to his kiss, he leaned back against the mattress, pulling her body down more completely on top of his own. There was no protest, not at first, in fact, Rory was totally into it too. At least, she was until he started to unbutton her dress.

Suddenly she was scrambling to get back onto her feet. Jess sat up fast, a little dazed and confused as he stared at his wife, hands on her hips as she glared at him.

“That’s your answer to this?” she asked crossly, noticing belatedly that his gaze wasn’t exactly on her face since a large part of her body was exposed yet. “God, I swear you’re fifteen sometimes!” she said, rolling her eyes as she started rebuttoning her dress fast.

“Hey, I married a beautiful woman and I like the view, so sue me,” he told her, passion most definitely extinguished now she was being so prickly again. “So, that’s it? Until I agree that you’re a Browncoat, even though you haven’t even seen the whole canon of _Firefly_ , no sex?”

Rory opened her mouth as if to reply and then seemed to change her mind. After a moment’s consideration, she nodded.

“Maybe, yes,” she said then. “Maybe that will teach you a lesson about arguing with your wife!”

She was joking, or half-joking, at least, Jess hoped so. That said, if she wasn’t, well, two could play that game.

“Fine,” he said, getting up and heading past her towards the door.

He stopped before quite getting there, turning back to grab a hold of Rory and pull her to him, kissing her thoroughly. She didn’t fight it, in fact she got really into it (again) but he pulled away before she could quite get a hold on him.

“That didn’t feel much like withholding, Ror,” he told her, smirking hard, “but hey, glad you enjoyed it, because until _you_ admit that _I’_ m right, that’s it.”

“Oh, you think you’re so special,” she said, scoffing at his threat, though something in her eyes gave away that she wasn’t quite so blasé. “Like I can’t resist you.”

“Well, you never could before,” he reminded her as he backed out of the door, closing it before she could follow.

It took every ounce of willpower Jess had not to turn around, walk back into the bedroom, throw Rory down on the bed and make love to her. He was pretty sure she would be up for that too, despite all that she said. At the end of the day, they were as addicted to each other as any two people could be, and the next few hours, days, however long it took was going to be torture on both sides. Still, they both had a stubborn streak a mile wide, one of many traits they shared, and so, Jess knew he couldn’t give in if Rory wouldn’t.

He was muttering curses (Chinese, of course) as he hurried back down the stairs to check on Tori. She was fine, sleeping soundly still, without a care in the world. She was so sweet and she looked more than a little like Rory in that moment.

“Please don’t be as stubborn as your mother - or me - when you grow up,” he urged the sleepy child.

“You really think she stands a chance?” asked Rory from behind him.

“Probably not.” Jess sighed, glancing back at his wife. “I’m not giving in,” he told her, catching her staring still.

“Me either,” she countered, arms folded across her chest. “I can be just as determined as you, Jess... dong ma?”

He nodded that he understood, watching her cross the room and disappear into the next. It really was going to be a very long and painful next few days, and Jess was absolutely blaming Joss Whedon for it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What better place to hit pause on this series than with Rory & Jess, am I right? I like to think so ;) As some of you will know from previous years, all WIP fics go on hold/hiatus for the month of December, because I have RL stuff going on and also alternative fics to write. Of course, some of that alternative fic will be Gilmore Girls :)


	14. Father & Son - 17th October 2020

It wasn’t how most kids would choose to spend their Sunday, Luke was well aware of that. Not that he was overly surprised when his son offered to give him a hand with the inventory and general stockroom system overhaul at the diner. Billy knew Jess was struggling with his latest book and was on a deadline he might not yet meet, which meant Luke would be doing all the work by himself. He also knew he was likely to get paid for his trouble.

No, the fact that Billy volunteered to work a Sunday like this was not what had Luke worried, it was how quiet and thoughtful and just plain odd his son was being. That hadn’t started today, not even this weekend. It had been going on for a few days now and Lorelai had noticed too.

“Well, maybe you can use the whole inventory thing to your advantage,” she had said last night when they talked about it. “You know, a little father-son bonding time? Maybe it’s time for the birds and the bees.”

At thirteen, Luke supposed Billy’s trouble could be girls, though he really, seriously hoped not. He was hoping to defer that kind of thing for a while yet, after all, the kid still had almost a whole year to go before he even started high school. It would suit Luke just fine if Billy stayed a kid a while longer, but it was plain as day to watch him haul boxes that he was well on his way to growing up already.

None of that meant that he wasn’t going to have to talk to his son about what was bothering him. As much as he loved Billy - just as he loved Rory and Jess and April too - Luke really was no good at the whole talking about emotions thing, never had been. At least with the girls he could make Lorelai do the heavy lifting and with Jess, well, he and Luke had spent years perfecting the shortest possible man-to-man conversations ever to get the job done. It was different with Billy, but God knows, Luke was going to try.

“Okay, I think that’s enough for now,” he said as his son added the last box of pickle jars to a hefty stack already made. “Why don’t you sit your butt down, I’ll get us some water and something to eat before we do anymore?”

“Sure.” Billy nodded, barely looking at his father as he parked his behind on a crate.

Luke sighed and went through to the diner proper to make some sandwiches and grab some pie and drinks.

That short of an answer to the idea of lunch was weird for a start. Sure, Billy was more like him than Lorelai when it came to stuff like eating and talking. He leaned towards healthy a not-small part of the time and he wasn’t much of a babbler, but he was never this laconic. He was actually giving teenaged Jess a run for his money on that score, something Luke told Billy twenty minutes later as they silently ate their lunch.

“You know, people say you’re a lot like me, but sometimes, I absolutely see your mom in you. Today’s the first time I see my nephew instead of my son.”

“You mean Jess?” Billy frowned, looking up sharply. “I don’t look anything like him.”

“That’s true, you don’t,” Luke agreed, “but the surly, hardly speaking, barely looking at me when I talk thing? Oh, that was Jess alright. Not now, but spin back twenty years, that was him.”

“Yeah, Mom talks about that sometimes, mostly when she’s kidding around.” Billy nodded. “She says he would’ve made a great John Bender.”

“He wasn’t far off,” Luke agreed, “but my point is, Billy, you don’t seem like your usual self today, or any day really for almost a week now. You don’t talk, it’s like you’re in a world of your own, mostly around me, I notice,” he said, trying in vain to meet Billy’s eyes but his son evaded at every turn. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing,” Billy insisted. “It’s not your fault, it’s just... It doesn’t matter,” he said, moving to get up.

Luke’s hand on his arm stopped him. “Hey, come on, kid,” he urged him and finally managed to get a look at his face. “If something is bothering you, whatever it is, you can tell me. I can’t promise I’ll understand or that I’ll even be able to help - depends what the problem is - but you gotta know, Billy, I will try, just as hard as I can.”

That raised a half-smile from the boy, which was something, Luke supposed, but it didn’t last. Billy heaved a big sigh and pushed his hair back off his forehead.

“They gave us this project in school,” he admitted at last, sitting back down on the crate with a bump. “It’s on genealogy, you know, family tree stuff?”

“Right.” Luke nodded along. “And you’re having problems?” he checked, before a realisation came to him. “Oh, don’t tell me the school are being weird about our extended family again, because if I have to deal with one more stupid-ass teacher telling me my kids are too into their insular family group, I swear-”

“It’s not about that,” Billy insisted, cutting Luke off before he quite had chance to explode. “It’s not about anybody in our family that’s... that’s alive,” he said awkwardly then. “The project isn’t exactly hard. Yes, we have to go online and track back through our family tree as far as we can, but just names and dates and stuff, and I can do that in my sleep, it’s fine. The essay part is about closer family, siblings, parents, and... and grandparents,” he said, swallowing hard.

Luke opened his mouth to say something but no words came out as his mind raced a little. Billy’s grandparents were Emily and Richard Gilmore, the latter of which had sadly passed just three months before. Maybe that was what had Billy so torn up, that he was being asked to think so much about someone he loved who was lost so recently, but the moment Luke tried to ask him about it, Billy jumped in first.

“It’s not about Grandpa Richard. That’s not... I mean, I know so much about him, it was easy to write a lot, and sure, it’s tough because he’s gone, but it was also kind of nice actually, to write all the great stuff about him. I wrote about Grandma Emily too, and about you and Mom, and Rory and April. I didn’t have a problem with any of that.”

“That’s good.” Luke nodded. “With all the family we have, you should have quite the paper already.”

“Except it’s not finished,” Billy told him in earnest. “I don’t... I don’t have anything about my other grandparents. I mean, I know their names, but I don’t even know when they were born or when they died exactly. I’ve barely even seen a picture. It’s not like I’m the only kid that doesn’t have all their grandparents, there are a lot of kids missing at least one or two. There’s a girl in my class who doesn’t even know who her father is for sure, so that was a real awkward conversation with the teacher.”

“I’ll bet,” said Luke softly, “but you know what? You should know about your grandparents, about my parents,” he said definitely. “I’m sorry I never told you anything before. It wasn’t like I didn’t want you to know, it’s just that... well, it was a long time ago. Hardly anybody that I’m close to now even knew them, not even your mom. Jess only met his grandpa a couple of times and he was so young, he doesn’t remember. Your Aunt Liz, she mentions Dad sometimes, but...”

He stopped then, shaking his head and running a hand over his face. Luke felt strange, very strange just thinking about his parents, because frankly, it had been too long. Not that they didn’t come to mind in one way or another most days of his life, but much of the time, he didn’t let himself think too deeply about them. Frankly, it still hurt sometimes, and other days, he just told himself to live in the present and let the past go. He had no idea that by keeping his mom and dad to himself so much, he had actually been hurting his son.

“What do you wanna know?” he asked then, watching Billy’s eyes get a little wider.

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “I didn’t think you’d wanna tell me anything.”

“Billy, son, it’s not that I don’t _want_ to tell you,” Luke promised him. “I just never thought about it much before, but you’re right, they were your grandparents and it’s bad enough that you’ll never get to meet them. If you want to know things about them, then you should, and hey, if you need it for school, that’s important too.”

“I do need it for school,” Billy agreed, “but I wanna know anyway. Like you said, they are my grandparents and I can’t ever meet them, but I should know more about them, right?”

“You absolutely should.” Luke nodded his head. “So, let’s see, what do we have here?” he asked himself, clapping his hands together. “Okay, this place was called William’s Hardware, which you know, because of the old sign,” he said as the thought occurred to him. “William Jonathan Danes was your grandfather, his birthday was May 14th 1940, and unfortunately he passed on...”

“November 29th,” said Billy knowingly, catching Luke off-guard for a second.

“Yeah, November 29th,” he echoed then, knowing exactly how his son knew that fact. “Uh, that was 1989. Are you not writing this down?” he checked with his son then.

“Oh, right. Yeah, I probably should, except I didn’t bring a pad or anything.”

“Pads we have, pencils too,” Luke reminded him, leading Billy out into the diner proper and furnishing him with the tools for the job.

He watched as his son scribbled down what had been said so far and then continued on. “He met Mom, uh, your grandmother, Rose, when they were in high school, got married in 1960, I came along in ‘63, your aunt in ‘67.”

Billy wrote faster and faster as Luke spat out more facts and then, as the time passed, it turned into stories instead, anecdotes learned at his father’s knee about when William Danes and Rose Mackay were young and in love, then further tales that Luke experienced himself. Learning to run the store at his father’s side, helping to raise Liz after his mother was gone. It was so strange, but once he started, he found he couldn’t stop. Billy was so full of questions and genuine interest, which didn’t hurt either, and just about everything there was to tell came spilling out of Luke wholesale.

“I ran out of paper,” said Billy eventually.

Luke’s eyes were wide with surprise as he looked over to the end of the counter where his son was sitting and watched him flip the pages of the order pad, every one covered front and back with Billy’s scruffy handwriting.

“Wow. I didn’t know I remembered so much.”

“It’s great, Dad,” Billy told him with a smile. “I mean, most of it I don’t need for my essay, but it’s so cool to hear all about them. Grandpa William seems a lot like you.”

Luke laughed at that. “Actually, I guess I’m a lot like him, well, sometimes, anyway,” he considered. “I see little pieces of him in you some days, in Jess too, actually. It’s very weird when that happens, but not a bad thing,” he said, staring at his little boy that was growing up so fast, maybe too fast. “Hey, speaking of running out of paper,” he said then, beckoning Billy to come forward around the counter and look. “You ever wonder what this is for?” he asked, gesturing to a covered panel on the lower part of the counter.

“Not really,” Billy confessed. “I just figured it’s the way the counter was made.”

“Not exactly,” Luke told him, crouching down as his son did the same. “We covered it up so it didn’t wear off but...” he said, prising open the panel like it was a secret doorway and revealing what was underneath.

“‘Three hammers, Phillips-head screwdrivers, and three boxes of nails in assorted sizes’,” Billy read aloud.

Luke smiled, not even having to look down to know exactly what it said before his son even began.

“Your grandpa was taking an order one day, ran out of paper,” he explained. “Weird as it sounds, I could never paint over it. You may not think I’m the sentimental type, Billy, and honestly, I’m not, most of the time,” Luke admitted, “but this little piece of my dad... I like knowing he’s still there. That make sense?”

Billy smiled as he looked at him. “Yeah, Dad. It makes a lot of sense,” he told him honestly, suddenly throwing his arms around Luke and nearly knocking him of his ass as he hugged him.

Luke was startled for a moment, but then he just hugged him back, making the most of it, like Lorelai said they were supposed to whenever stuff like that happened. After all, Billy was a teenage boy already and sure to be wanting to get as far away as possible from his parents before too much longer. That was okay by Luke. He was ready for the awkward years ahead. After all, he had got through them with Jess, and his own father had got through them with him. It was amazing what a family could make it through if they loved each other enough, Luke knew, and he had no worries where Billy was concerned, not at all.


	15. Full House - 2nd January 2036

“Okay, I finally got them all to go to sleep,” said Rory as she returned to the living room and dropped down heavily onto the couch next to her husband. “I am officially exhausted,” she declared, curling into his side.

“It’s been a heck of a day,” Jess agreed, his arm around her as he kissed the top of her head. “I mean, I love our grandkids, I honestly do, but when they go home tomorrow? I won’t exactly be sad about the peace and quiet.”

Rory laughed against his chest then lifted her head. “Oh, I feel horrible about it, but I actually agree with you. How are they so... much?” she asked in earnest. “I don’t remember Jack and Tori being so much.”

“We were younger then, Ror,” he reminded her. “Also, we stopped at two. Tori just had to go one better.”

“Yes, but when she first brought Johnny here, we took care of him for a whole weekend and we were fine. That was only five years ago.”

“And now he’s five and comes as part of a set with a three-year-old and a tiny baby,” Jess pointed out. “That’s a lot even for Tori and Dax to deal with, and we’re-”

“Do not say old,” Rory warned him.

“Old _er_ ,” Jess said instead, diplomatic as ever, even with the smirk. “There’s a reason why people traditionally have kids when they’re younger.”

“Maybe not as young as we started,” Rory said thoughtful, curling into his side some more. “Sometimes, it seems like forever ago, and other times, it feels like no time at all.”

“I know what you mean.” Jess nodded. “What you said about the first time Tori brought Johnny over here, man, that was weird. She put that kid in my arms and... and I was twenty years old all over again, standing in the hospital, holding onto Jack for the first time. Scared the hell out of me.”

He hadn’t meant to say quite that much, knowing when Rory looked up at him then that he had overshared. Even after all these years, he wasn’t much for saying just exactly what was on his mind unless he was prodded some by his wife or someone else he loved. Jess smiled down at her then stole a kiss before she had a chance to call him on anything.

“You know, as much as I had faith in you - in us - I was scared too back then,” Rory admitted. “We were so young and my getting pregnant was so unexpected. I have to say, I think we did a pretty good job though.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jess agreed, smiling all the wider. “With Tori too.”

“Oh, yeah. The first in three generations of Gilmore girls to wait for the baby until _after_ she graduated high school and college.”

“And she was married too. I mean, I know I used to tell her she should be at least thirty-five before she ever had sex, and maybe I was exaggerating a little, but it’s almost like she actually listened.”

Rory laughed at that. Jess knew she was glad too, that their daughter had ended up doing things in what might be called the traditional order. Sure, they would’ve loved her just the same if she hadn’t, but this way, she had got the best of both worlds. The best education, a great romance, a job she loved, and now a family. She had missed out on nothing, except maybe playing the field when it came to dating. Jess was more than okay with his little girl skipping over that particular life experience. His blood pressure would probably be that much worse if she hadn’t.

“You’re thoughtful,” said Rory, reaching a hand up to his head and encouraging Jess to look at her. “What’s going on in there?”

“The usual,” he told her with a smirk. “Just wondering how I got so lucky, with the beautiful wife and the amazing kids and the grandkids too.”

“I don’t believe that’s what you were thinking,” Rory told him smartly, “but I’ll take it.”

“Good choice,” he said, moving in for another kiss.

Though they were both tired and probably should’ve just got some sleep already, as the kissing turned into something more, Jess was kind of hoping to be taking his wife to bed for other reasons. He was about to make certain suggestions in that direction when a thud from upstairs made him and Rory spring apart.

“Oh, no!” she gasped, right before the yelling started.

“Here we go again.” Jess sighed as they both got up off the couch and hurried for the stairs.

When they reached the bedroom, all three of their grandkids were awake, though Johnny was doing his best to convince Paul to feign sleep and calm little Aimee down too. At five years old, he wasn’t really doing a great job at either task. His brother had one eye open yet and his sister was screaming like the world was ending.

Johnny realised then that his grandparents were at the door and turned to face them, hands over his ears, presumably to drown out Aimee’s crying, and a very sad look on his face.

“Sowwy?” he tried, looking so adorable, nobody could ever be mad at him.

“You go left, I’ll go right,” Jess said to Rory, heading for the crib and scooping Aimee up into his arms. “Hey, baby girl. It’s okay. It’s okay, you’re fine,” he promised as he rocked her in his arms and tried to soothe her.

“Books, bang!” said Paul, suddenly sitting up in bed now that Rory was paying him attention. “Big bang!”

“I know, those naughty books made a big noise when they fell like that,” she said, glancing at Johnny as he hastily picked up the fallen books and made them into a slightly unstable pile again. “But it’s time to go back to sleep now. No more noises, I’ll make sure of it.”

“Okay.” Paul sighed, laying down to go to sleep like a good boy.

Jess watched for a moment, even as he finally got Aimee’s yelling down to a dull roar. In his head he counted down from five, and right on one, Paul sat up again, eyes wide open.

“One more?” he asked. “Ganma, one more, pease?” he urged Rory in his childish talk.

“One more?” Johnny echoed, bringing the top book from the pile he had been making over to the bed and shoving it unceremoniously into Rory’s lap. “Pwease?”

She should say no. Jess knew that Rory was as aware of it, as he was himself, and yet, he was just as sure she was about to say yes and read one more story to the boys that should’ve been asleep at least an hour ago already.

“Well...” Rory said, glancing to Jess.

“Your call, _Grandma_ ,” he said pointedly, knowing how it bugged her.

Since the kids couldn’t see from that angle, she poked her tongue out at him, making Jess laugh, before turning back to Paul and Johnny, and agreeing to read one more story. Like there was going to be any other result to all this.

“You doing okay now, sweetheart?” Jess softly asked the little girl in his arms.

Aimee let out the most enormous yawn and he took that as a good sign. Leaning over the crib, he gently kissed her forehead then laid her down to go back to sleep. He knew he didn’t have to worry about her grandma or her brothers disturbing her as they all spoke in whispers on the other side of the room.

Sure that Aimee was settled, Jess moved to straighten up the stack of books that had fallen before and did a general sweep of the room for any other hazards. He was glad to find none and tried to ignore the way his knees protested from the bending down and straightening up too many times this late in the day.

Though they tried to deny it, maybe he and Rory were finally getting a little old, but for all that it hadn’t been planned, it made him all the more glad they had Jack and Tori so early. After all, if they had waited too long, they would be that much older now, maybe too old for all the fun the grandkids had wanted to have today.

“And they all lived happily ever after,” said Rory softly, closing up the story book. “Now, time to sleep,” she told Johnny and Paul in no uncertain terms. “And if either one of you asks for ‘one more’, no cookies tomorrow!” she warned.

Jess tried not to laugh as Paul put his hand over his mouth, as if trying to make double sure no words escaped at all, while Johnny practically threw himself off the bed and ran to his own, diving under the covers and pulling them right over his head. As Rory got up and tucked Paul in nicely, Jess moved to uncover Johnny’s little head and settle him down to sleep too.

“Sleep tight, champ,” he said, smoothing his hair.

“’Night, Grampa,” the little boy muttered, eyes closed and sleep already taking him.

A minute later, Jess and Rory met by the door and crept out together, crisis averted, all kids seemingly down for the night at last. Of course, Rory had thought she succeeded in settling them all the last time and turned out to be wrong.

“Why do they always want one more story?” she asked as they walked down the hallway with their arms around each other.

“Because they’re our grandkids?” Jess suggested. “C’mon, Ror, you would hate it if they didn’t all love books just as much as we do.”

“I would love them all whether they liked books or not,” she told him definitely before a huge grin broke through her serious expression, “but yes, I do like it better that they’re book lovers, just like you and me, and Jack and Tori.”

“For Dax’s sake, I guess it’s good they like music too,” Jess considered. “Although ‘one more song’ would be way more disruptive at night than one more story.”

“Ugh, wait until they’re teenagers” said Rory, seemingly unsure whether to laugh or cry at the thought. “And we’ll be even older then!”

Jess definitely did have to laugh at that, he couldn’t help it.

“Teenagers aren’t all bad,” he reminded her, pulling her around into his arms right outside their own bedroom door. “You know, I was seventeen when I met the love of my life?”

“Really?” asked Rory, wearing a smirk to rival any Jess had ever worn himself over the years. “Did I ever meet her?”

“You’d remember if you did, trust me on that,” he said seriously, leaning in to capture her lips with his own. “You think they’ll actually stay asleep this go-around?” he said then, tilting his head towards the other room where the grandkids were all supposed to be sleeping.

“I think we have some time,” Rory told him. “What did you have in mind?”

Like she really needed to ask. Jess was pretty sure she already knew by the way she kissed him then, the two of them stumbling into their bedroom like the teens in love the used to be.

It didn’t matter that they had two kids calling them Grandma and Grandpa and a third that would do the same when she was old enough for words. Rory and Jess didn’t see old people or even old _er_ people when they looked at each other. They just saw love and both knew that would never change.


	16. From Black Eye to Black Tie - 29th September 2023

“Tell me again how I got roped into this?” Tori asked Jess with a pained expression.

“Hey, I offered to get you out of it,” he reminded her in a low voice, mindful of Emily overhearing their conversation. “But, oh, no, you wanted the fancy dress and the chance to be treated like a princess for the night.”

“It seemed like fun,” his daughter whined. “This is the anti-fun,” she noted as she glanced over at her great-grandma giving very specific instructions to a hair stylist, a make-up artist, and a maid.

In no time at all, she was being summoned to join the group of older women and then just as fast was whisked away upstairs to be made ready for her coming out ball. There was no chance to refuse, no argument to be made. Tori had agreed to Gran’s plans and now there was no stopping her.

“She looks odd,” Emily noted as her great granddaughter was bundled up the stairs. “Is she nervous?”

“Probably.” Jess nodded, hiding a smirk in his drink. “She’ll be fine when we get there.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” said Emily, even as she eyed him as suspiciously as she ever had - that was really saying something. “Of course, you know you need to change also. I think I was quite specific-”

“My tux is in the car,” said Jess fast, before she could get carried away. “I’ll go get it in a few. I figure I have plenty of time. It’s the girls that need all the primping, right, not the dads?”

Emily gave him one of those withering stares that all the Gilmore women were so good at when the mood took them. Jess didn’t even flinch, not anymore. Still, it was tough not to think back to the first time Emily Gilmore had looked at him like that, especially today when they were preparing for his almost-seventeen-year-old daughter to be presented to society. He was near that age when he first met Rory’s grandma and what a meeting that had been.

“You know she is so much like her mother,” she said of Tori then, picking up her own drink from the table and staring into it. “I know Rory only went through this whole process to please me and now Victoria is doing the same.”

“They love you enough to do things that’ll make you happy.” Jess shrugged easily. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Emily looked uncertain, thoughtful even, as she stared up onto the landing. Jess wondered what she was really thinking about but didn’t dare ask. It was true enough that they got along a lot better these days than they ever had before, but he and Emily were never really going to be friends.

It was Richard he did better with, truth be told, but it was three years now since he had passed and for a while there, dealing with Emily had, understandably, become a hundred times harder as she grieved. She was doing better now, as much as anybody ever could be in her position, Jess supposed. Certainly, in the absence of her husband, and Jack who had gone away to college a couple of months back, poor Tori was getting all her gran’s attention. Maybe a whole lot more than she ever wanted.

“It makes me think is all,” said Emily then, turning back to look at Jess who shifted uncomfortably under her usual piercing gaze. “With Victoria being so much like her mother. You know, when Rory first brought a boyfriend here, I honestly thought Richard was going to give him a better roasting than the cook had done with the meat for dinner,” she said, almost smirking, it seemed.

“Yeah, well, Forester probably deserved it,” Jess told her without pause. “Your husband was a smart man, he didn’t suffer fools gladly.”

That actually got a smile out of the great Emily Gilmore as she sat down beside him. “He was such an odd, gawky young man, and so ridiculously tall,” she said of Dean, rolling her eyes for good measure. “Though Rory’s second boyfriend didn’t exactly make the best of impressions either, at least I understood the attraction. You looked like one of those scruffy rock singers that both Lorelai and Rory would fawn over given half the chance.”

Jess smirked and shook his head. “Be glad you’ve never had to hear me sing.”

Emily sighed. “Yes, well, apparently Victoria’s young man is quite the musician, though I’ve yet to meet him, of course.”

It would be better for Jess not to say anything about that, he knew. After all, Tori and Dax had been seeing each other since she was fourteen, something nobody had ever let slip to Emily for fear of the reaction it would get. Of course, he was a little surprised to hear that she wouldn’t approve of Tori’s boyfriend in general.

“I figured you’d be happy that Tori was dating a blue blood.”

The expression on Emily’s face then proved without a shadow of a doubt that she hadn’t known that at all.

“Huh.” Jess said, a little surprised himself by that revelation. “You didn’t know.”

“She told me his name was Dax,” said Emily, practically spitting out the name as if it were foul-tasting. “That he was a drummer in some band in Stars Hollow.”

“All true,” Jess assured her, “but Dax is short for Darryl Cooper. You probably know his father, Anthony, and I know you’ve met his step-mom, the former Louise Grant. She went to Chilton with Rory.”

Through his whole mini-speech, Jess watched so many emotions cross over Emily’s face. Suddenly she was on her feet, moving two paces left then two paces right, before turning all the way around and facing her son-in-law again.

“Darryl Cooper?” she checked. “Son of Anthony Cooper Jr, grandson of Anthony Cooper Sr?”

“I guess so.” Jess shrugged helplessly. “I never asked about his entire family tree. Just his intentions with my daughter.”

Emily opened her mouth as if to say something else but stopped short of actually verbalising. Of all the emotions she had gone through in the last two minutes - which seemed to run the gamut from elated to shocked via everything in between - she had now settled on something that looked decidedly superior and way too clever. At least that was familiar, Jess thought.

“You hate him,” she said smartly, wearing a smirk not dissimilar to the one often found on Jess’ own lips. “You do, you hate him. I’ll bet you look at that boy and see everything you ever disliked about yourself and any other boy you ever came across at his age.”

“I don’t _hate_ him,” he told her firmly, “but the rest is... not entirely untrue,” he admitted, glancing away.

Emily actually laughed as she retook her seat, one hand daintily at her chest as she chuckled.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Jess,” she said then, surprising him more than the giggling ever had as her hand landed briefly on his arm. “I just never thought I would see the day when that awful phrase finally came true for you. ‘What goes around comes around,’” she said almost triumphantly. “You know that day when Rory first brought you here for dinner, I remember thinking, ‘I really hope, some day, he has a daughter of his own and he realises quite how hard it is for a parent, or a grandparent, to see their precious child aligning themselves with...” she stalled then, looking a little awkward as Jess stared her down, daring her to say what she was thinking. “Well, you know very well what I thought of you back then.”

“Pretty sure we both understand how well we didn’t get along at the time.” Jess nodded easily. “For what it’s worth, you stopped seeming so scary when I learned not to be such a little punk.”

Emily smiled at that. “Thank you. For what it’s worth to you, you stopped seeming like such a ‘little punk’ when you stood by Rory in her first pregnancy. I won’t pretend that I magically liked you much back then, but... well, I suppose you grew up eventually.”

Jess smirked at that. “I still have my moments.” Before Emily could come up with an answer to that, he got up to leave. “I should go grab my tux. Don’t want to let our girl down.”

“No,” he heard Emily say behind him. “I don’t believe you would.”

“And the surprises just keep on coming,” he said to himself as he went out the front door.

Honestly, Jess meant what he said about not wanting to let Tori down tonight, but that didn’t mean he was looking forward to this whole debutante ball thing. Part of the problem actually was Dax, though he wasn’t about to tell anybody that. Though he went by a cool shortened version of his name, played drums in a band, and could easily be mistaken for the kind of guy Jess had been at that age, the truth was, he came from Emily Gilmore’s world. He was the blue blood type, bound to know exactly what to wear, what to say, and what to do at Tori’s big event. He could make Jess look very stupid if he wanted to. Not that Jess really believed Dax would be so foolish as to upset Tori that way.

“Not looking forward to this,” he said to himself anyway as he retrieved his clothes from the trunk of his car. “Not even a little bit.”

Of course, hours later, as he stood at the top of a long flight of fancy stairs with Tori holding on to his arm, Jess forgot how bad he expected this night to be. He didn’t care about Dax or Emily or anybody at all, except for Tori gripping onto his arm and looking way too much like her mother in her perfect white dress with her hair piled up on top of her head.

“I swear I’m three seconds away from throwing up,” she told him out the side of her mouth.

“You and me both, Tor,” Jess assured her, “but your mom promised that if you keep looking straight ahead and taking deep breaths, eventually it ends and you’re glad you did it.”

“She gave you that speech too, huh?” Tori sighed. “I guess it must be true then.”

“I guess. If it helps, you look beautiful, sweetheart, and as dumb as this whole ritual is to me,” he said, stopping a moment to smile politely at the father in front who turned to glare at him for what he said, “I’m actually really proud of you for going through with it, you know, for your mom and your great-grandma.”

Tori smiled at him then, tears in her eyes that were clearly pure joy. “Thank you, Daddy,” she said, just as the line of girls and their dads started moving.

Jess took his own words to heart and followed Rory’s advice, taking a deep breath and fixing his eyes straight ahead as he escorted Tori down the stairs. When she was announced to the room and to the world as Victoria Lorelai Mariano, daughter of Jess and Lorelai Leigh Mariano, he was pretty sure his heart swelled two sizes larger than it was before.

Actually, he didn’t even mind when she moved away from him and towards Dax, who looked frighteningly upstanding in his tux, even with the cummerbund and the stupid white gloves. Jess wasn’t looking at him for long, his gaze went back to Tori as she curtseyed to the assembled crowd, and then over to Emily, Lorelai and Luke, Jack, and finally Rory who gave him a smile and a quick thumbs-up when no-one was watching.

Maybe he felt stupid in the outfit, maybe he didn’t love how fast his little girl was growing up, but all in all, Jess had to think he had done a good thing here today. When he caught Emily Gilmore smiling at him and nodding her head when she knew she had his attention, he knew he was right.


	17. In Good Company - 19th June 2028

“Please, don’t do this to me!”

Jack stopped a moment at the break room door when he heard the desperate plea in a female voice. He didn’t really expect to see anything too untoward, and yet she certainly got his attention. As his eyes travelled over the back of the owner of the voice, he certainly couldn’t say he was disappointed with the view either and was absolutely sure he had never seen her before in his life.

“Hey,” he said, immediately wishing he hadn’t when the woman jumped violently and clanged her head on an open cabinet door. “Geez, I’m sorry,” said Jack as he rushed over to her. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve had better days,” she admitted, one hand to her head as she winced. “You know, I really thought I was ready for this day, for this job. Apparently not!” she said, just a little too loudly give Jack was stood right next to her.

“Okay, first thing’s first,” he said then, reaching for the hand at her head and prising it gently away. “No blood. That’s a good sign.”

“I didn’t hit it that hard,” she said, heaving a sigh, “but I am about to kick the crap out of this coffee machine. Why is it not working?” she asked him crossly.

Jack held up his hands in mock-surrender, feeling more than a little attacked. She must have noticed, because she immediately apologised, looking too close to tears.

Taking control, Jack pulled out a chair by the nearby table and gestured for the pretty stranger to sit down, which she did. Taking a look at the errant coffee machine then, he had trouble finding anything wrong at first. There was water and coffee and all the switches were on, and then, he noticed.

“Ah,” he said, picking up the plug from the counter and turning to show it to his new acquaintance.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” she exclaimed, looking momentarily stunned, before she suddenly broke into great peals of laughter.

Hysteria aside, it was kind of a beautiful sound actually.

“That is... I don’t even have words!” she said as the laughter finally subsided and she carefully wiped under her eyes, trying to save her mascara, no doubt.

“Hey, it happens.” Jack shrugged, pushing the plug into the wall socket and watching the coffee machine chug into life. “Hey presto!”

“Amazing,” she told him as she rose from her chair. “You should go into show business with magic tricks like that, Mr...?” she trailed off, hand outstretched in a gesture of introduction as she waited for his name.

“Jack Mariano,” he said, taking the hand and shaking it firmly.

“Isla George,” she told him. “If you hadn’t guessed, it’s my first day,” she explained, “and I think you just saved it.”

“Yes, probably,” Jack agreed, completely deadpan. “I mean, you might’ve taken a whole other minute to spot the plug was out of the socket if I hadn’t come along when I did.”

“Come on, don’t do that,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It’s the little things that count, you know? God, if I had a nickel for every grand gesture I got from some guy I was dating, only for him to turn out to be a complete asshole in every other way possible.”

Jack was a little taken aback by her comment, and perhaps even a little amused too. He just met this woman, literally five minutes ago, and now she seemed to be throwing him into the category of guys she had dated? He opened his mouth to say something about that, when Isla suddenly pulled her head out of the cabinet and looked right at him.

“I didn’t mean for that to sound weird,” she said definitely. “I wasn’t... I mean, I’m not some lunatic that thinks we’re going to date just because you helped me with the coffee machine. Wow, how conceited would I have to be to think that one look and you’d fall for me?” she said, laughing almost too loudly, but it was still a great sound.

It was certainly contagious apparently as Jack found himself joining in.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” he told her, figuring he was fairly safe in saying what came next, “but you’re a little crazy.”

“It’s been said.” Isla nodded. “Does that scare you?”

“Nope,” he answered without pause. “I grew up with a lot of crazy. Not my family, well, not really, but my hometown,” he clarified. “It’s... not uncrazy.”

“Hmm, interesting.”

They shared a smile that might’ve been more than that if the coffee machine hadn’t finally finished with the task at hand. Isla reached for the pot and filled the two mugs she had waiting, adding milk and sugar to one and then picking them up, ready to leave.

“These are for my supervisor and his manager,” she said of the coffees she carried. “Probably shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer than I already have.”

“Probably not,” Jack agreed, though frankly he would like to have told her it didn’t matter and that maybe she could just stay a little longer to talk with him some more. “Um, you need help with any doors or...?”

Isla opened her mouth to answer then stopped. “Actually, yes. That would be great.”

The way she said it, the smile playing at her lips, Jack couldn’t help but wonder if she really did need assistance or if she was feeling the same thing he was, that it would be nice not to have to walk away from each other just yet.

Heading to the door, he held it open and waited for her to pass through, then followed her down the hallway, falling into step beside her when space allowed.

“So, are you on this floor?”

“One down,” she told him as they reached the elevators and he hit the button. “Am I taking you out of your way?”

“Not really.” Jack shook his head, hoping she didn’t ask any further questions since he actually worked one floor up from here and was going completely out of his way for her. “Things are looking up,” he said then as the elevator car arrived in seconds and they stepped inside.

“So, what do you do here, other than saving unlikely damsels in distress?” Isla asked as they rode downward.

“Oh, you know, the usual,” said Jack, hands in his pockets as he rocked on his heels. “Fighting dragons, being generally handsome and heroic.”

“Right. Well, somebody has to, right?” Isla replied, just as deadpan as he had been as she smirked at him.

Before Jack could answer, the elevator doors pinged open and they were once again in motion. He watched as Isla looked both left and right down the hallway before choosing a direction, thinking he probably shouldn’t make a comment. After all, she was new and it was a pretty big building. It might have helped if he knew where exactly they were headed, but he didn’t like to ask a second time. Instead, he just opened the double-doors she was waiting behind and ushered her through, then followed her on to another single door with a name written on it that he presumed to be her boss.

“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slow. “Um, could you just...? Please?” she asked, nodding her head towards the handle she would have problems with yet.

“Sure,” Jack agreed, reaching down to grab it and pushing open the door.

“Thanks” Isla smiled as she slipped through the door closing behind her with a thud.

It was strange how disappointed Jack felt when he realised she was gone and that he had no idea when he might see her again. They met all of ten minutes ago, but it had taken barely two of those for him to realise how much he liked her. If only she had needed to travel a little further to get back to her boss. If only he had taken a little longer in realising the coffee machine wasn’t plugged in.

Heaving a sigh, Jack moved to walk away, only to be startled by the door opening again and Isla stepping back out into his path.

“Oh. Still here?” she checked, smiling as if she might be pleased that he was. “What? Nobody else yelling for help just now?”

“Not that I heard,” he told her, shaking his head. “Uh, you don’t need to be in there?” he said then, gesturing towards the office door.

“Nope, they just needed me for refreshments. Now they’re right back to some deep, meaningful managerial type stuff... or baseball. Who really knows for sure?”

Jack laughed at that.

“Yeah, I know. I’m a little crazy,” she repeated what he had said to her in the break room. “But you’re hanging around here with me, so what does that say about you?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest like she just won something.

Maybe she had, but something inside Jack just wouldn’t let him tell her so.

“You got coffee for everybody else but not for yourself,” he pointed out, “and in helping you, I never got mine either. How about we fix that?”

Isla opened her mouth, presumably to answer, but then closed it again, her eyes moving past him down the hall. “I should probably get back to my desk. First day, remember?”

“If they really are talking baseball,” Jack considered, looking to her boss’ door, “you probably have a few minutes, right?”

“Okay, Clark Kent. I’ll take a chance on you,” she said, turning to walk back towards the elevators.

When Jack didn’t follow immediately, she looked back over her shoulder questioningly. It didn’t take him long to take the hint and follow her. They were back in the elevator heading up before he spoke again.

“You do know Clark Kent was a reporter and never worked in insurance, right?”

“You do know Clark Kent was a superhero who hid behind a mild-mannered facade, right?” she shot back at him, smirking hard.

They stepped out of the elevator then, Jack following behind Isla, pretty sure he would follow her anywhere at this point, through fire and flood and over broken glass, though their destination was only a simple walk down the hallway to the break room for now. It was nice to realise it was still empty, no-one to butt in on their conversation and ruin the moment, Jack thought, as he set about pouring out coffee for himself and Isla too.

“A little milk, no sugar, thanks,” she told him.

“Huh, weird coincidence,” he said as he showed her, he was having exactly the same.

As he turned, she got up from her seat to take her own drink from him, the two of them ending up that much closer than Jack had really intended. He wondered if Isla meant to cause such a moment. He really didn’t mind if she had.

“You ever have one of those days,” she said then, soft enough he might not have heard clearly if she wasn’t as close as she was, “you just feel like everything is going wrong, and then, suddenly, it’s all going so right?”

“I’ve had them.” Jack nodded, eyes locking onto hers then. “Isla...”

Before he could say more, she had closed the final distance between them, her lips meeting his in a sweet kiss. A second later, there was a splattering sound and Jack felt something warm and wet soaking through his sock and the cuff of his pant leg.

“Oh, crap!” Isla cursed, pulling away and realised she had poured coffee all over his foot and ankle. “Jack, I’m sorry, I...”

“Hey,” he said, hand at her shoulder keeping her close when she looked set to bolt, glad to get her eyes back on his own so easily. “I have other shoes,” he promised her.

That earned him a slow smile that spread all over her face and reached her eyes within seconds. It also earned him another kiss that didn’t wet his feet, but instead sparked something deep inside of Jack Mariano that he hadn’t felt in too long.


	18. It’s Great, It’s Grand, It’s Wonderland - 4th August 2010

“Are you really sure about this, Grandma?” said Rory, just as soon as Emily opened the front door.

She had to have been watching from the window or something, since she was right there without her granddaughter having to ring the bell or anything. Besides, it was much more normal to be greeted by a maid rather than the lady of the house.

“Rory, for what feels like the tenth time already, I am absolutely sure,” she said definitely, reaching down to pick up one of two bags that her granddaughter was struggling to bring inside. “Who better to take care of Jack and Victoria than their own great-grandparents? Isn’t that right, you two?”

“Gan-Gan!” Tori cried happily, rushing to grab Emily by the lower legs, since at not-quite three it was all she could reach.

“Gran!” Jack yelled just as loud, following suit and joining in on the hugs. “Where’s Great Grandpa?”

“He’ll be along in just a minute,” she assured him. “Now, say goodbye to your mother and then take your sister through to the living room like a good boy.”

Much as he always did, Jack dutifully followed out the request, running back to Rory to hug her and say goodbye for now, as Tori followed on behind and did the same. Then off they went, hand-in-hand, to the living room, at a slightly faster pace than perhaps they should’ve when so many breakables were present.

“I really appreciate this, Grandma,” said Rory, standing up straight and pushing her hair out of her face. “I mean, I know they’re your great grandkids and you love them, but at two and five, they are a little much sometimes.”

“Nonsense, they’re perfectly well-behaved when they’re here,” Emily told her with a smile. “We’ve never had any trouble with them.”

“You haven’t really had them by yourselves all that much,” Rory reminded her. “Not that I don’t think you can handle it, because I’m sure you can, it’s just even Mom and Luke get a little overwhelmed when they babysit for us. Of course, they have Billy too, but still, they are... um, they’re a little...”

“Younger? Fitter?” Emily suggested, arms folded across her chest, almost daring Rory to use either word. “Whatever it is you were going to say, I would remind you that your mother and step-father are not an option right now. Also, from what you said on the telephone, Mrs Rossini’s need is far greater than that of anyone else. So, why don’t you go on to the hospital and make sure she’s being properly taken care of?”

There was no way to argue, Rory knew. It was tough enough to get the better of Emily Gilmore on a good day, and today certainly wasn’t one of those. With Luke away on vacation with Lorelai and Billy, Jess had to be at the diner almost all of the time, leaving Rory with the kids. That had been just fine for several days, until Mrs R took a tumble and landed up in the hospital. Frankly, it had been lucky that Grandma had called right when the crap hit the fan or Rory wasn’t sure what she would’ve done, apart from drag her children to the hospital with her, and that thought so did not appeal on any level.

“I should go,” she said then, snapping herself out of deep thought. “Um, I have my cell so if you do need me for anything-”

“We will be perfectly fine, Rory,” Emily insisted without pause. “Honestly, you would think I had never taken care of children before.”

“Okay, I’m going,” Rory backed up out of the door, “and thank you, again, Grandma. I really appreciate this. I’ll be as fast as I can!” she called as she rushed to the car and headed off.

From the doorway, Emily raised a hand to wave goodbye, smiling like she meant it because she really was not at all worried about taking care of her great grandchildren for the afternoon. Of course, the happy expression slipped a little when she heard a rather worrying thud and then a pained crying sound.

“Oh, good grief!” she exclaimed, quickly slamming the door closed and running as fast as she dare in the direction of the living room.

She found Victoria sat in the middle of the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks as she screamed, with Jack hovering over her, making shushing sounds and looking five seconds away from being equally as distressed.

“What on earth happened here?” Emily asked loudly over the sound of her great granddaughter’s crying.

“Tori fell down,” Jack said sadly. “Hit her head.”

“Oh, dear,” she said, sinking down onto the sofa and reaching to pull Victoria up into her lap, wincing a little as her back protested at the movement. “My, you’re such a big girl. Hush now, sweetheart, let’s be brave. I’m sure it’s not so bad,” she said soothingly, even as she checked Victoria’s head for a bump or blood.

Thankfully, she found nothing of concern, and after a minute or two of hugs and comfort, the little girl ceased crying.

“Emily? Whatever has been going on out here?” asked Richard as he appeared form his study then. “You know, I was finishing up a very important call when there was this awful wailing and-”

He stopped short of saying anymore as Jack got up and went barrelling into his legs for a hug. The little boy was also talking a mile a minute, explaining to Great Grandpa how Victoria fell and bumped her head. He then got onto telling him about Mrs R and how she fell down too.

“Everybody’s falling down. Please, don’t fall down, Great Grandpa,” he advised. “It’s not fun.”

“I’m sure I have no intention of doing so, Jack,” Richard assured him, ruffling his hair, “and neither does your great grandmother, I assure you. Now, where is my dear Victoria?” he asked, encouraging Jack to let go of his leg now so he could walk further into the room.

Taking a seat next to his wife and great-granddaughter, Richard put a careful hand to the little girl’s back and got her attention. “Are you alright, my dear?” he checked with her.

“Uh-huh,” Victoria nodded solemnly, rubbing at one red-rimmed eye. “Bad table!” she said then, flinging out an arm in the general direction of the coffee table.

“Oh, yes, I quite agree” he said mock seriously. “I must confess, I never cared for it much myself. Bad, awful, unpleasant thing!” he said, smiling at Victoria.

She laughed loudly, flinging herself bodily out of Emily’s lap and into Richard’s own, crawling all over him and kissing his cheek once she was high enough to reach.

“I wonder sometimes who the silliest child in the room really is,” Emily told her husband, rolling her eyes, but smiling all the same. “I assume that call you were making was the last for today?”

“Indeed, it was,” Richard confirmed, even as he tried to get Victoria to sit nicely in his lap, with the soles of her little shoes far away from the upholstery. “My work for today is done, so I may spend as much time as possible with my great grandchildren,” he said, speaking to his wife, though he only had eyes for the devoted little girl in his arms.

“Gran?” Jack said then, getting her attention. “I’m hungry,” he told her. “Do you have snacks?”

“Moonpies!” Tori cheered, arms raised above her head. “Moonpies?” she repeated, more in the way of a question as she looked into the puzzled faces of one great grandparent and then the other.

“Um, I’m afraid I don’t know what that is.” Emily shook her head.

“We like Mallomars too,” Jack assured her. “And Pop Tarts, and Twinkies.”

“Twinkies!” Tori’s arms shot up as she spoke another item’s name much as she had the other, as if it were a cry of great triumph.

“Well, I do know what a Twinkie is,” Richard confessed, “but I’m sure your great grandmother doesn’t have them in the house,” he said, looking to Emily for confirmation, even though he must’ve known already he spoke the truth.

“Well, we must have something,” his wife said desperately, floundering badly by now. “I’ll go and check the kitchen. At the very least we ought to have some chocolate or some cake somewhere.”

“Choc-lit! Cake!” Tori cheered as she had before, hopping down from Richard’s lap and running circles around the coffee table, gamely chased by her brother a moment later.

Richard got up to follow his wife towards the kitchen. “Emily, if we’re having this much trouble finding food that the children would like to eat,” he asked her in a low voice, “how exactly do you expect us to come up with something entertaining to do all afternoon? We may have sugary snacks in the house, I am certain we do not have toys and games suitable for ones so young.”

“One thing at a time, Richard” Emily insisted. “Just one thing at a time.”

* * *

By the time Rory returned to her grandparents’ house to pick up the kids, she was exhausted. All the panic over Mrs Rossini, the driving back and forth, and the general worry had really taken it out of her. Thankfully, Mrs R was going to be fine. Apparently, her lack of real injury from her fall was all but miraculous, so the doctors said. They were keeping her in overnight just to double-check she didn’t have any internal problems and such, but all being well, she should be out tomorrow, with nothing but a slight sprain to one wrist and the opposite ankle to worry about.

Rory felt good about that, but less positive about what kind of carnage she was going to be greeted with as she rang the bell and waited outside the front door of the Gilmore mansion. After a few seconds, a maid came to greet her, smiling almost too much for a person in her position.

“Mrs Mariano?” she checked.

“That would be me.” Rory nodded. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“Myrtle,” the young girl confirmed, bobbing her head. “Mr and Mrs Gilmore asked me to tell you, they’re out on the back lawn.”

“Okay,” said Rory warily. “Um, with my kids?”

“Certainly,” Myrtle agreed. “If you’d like to go right around the side of the house and through the gate, it’s not locked.”

Before Rory could ask anything else, the door was closed in her face, leaving her only one option. She would have to follow Myrtle’s directions and head around to the back lawn, though she was just a little worried about what she might find there.

She was unlatching the gate when she first heard the yelling, quickening her pace, because she was sure something was wrong. A few paces more and Rory realised she wasn’t hearing screams of panic or distress, only squeals of joy and peals of laughter.

“What on earth...?” she began to ask herself, eyes wider than wide as she came upon the scene out back of the house.

It wasn’t so strange to see Jack and Tori running around like their butts had been lit on fire, or to see them rolling in the grass and hear them laughing like drains. What had Rory hypnotised was the view of her grandparents, both at the grand old age of sixty-seven, completely underdressed compared to their usual formality, tossing and chasing after a frisbee!

“Oh, Richard, that’s far too high!” Emily complained as she leapt as best she could for the flying projectile, though it was the laughter in the presumed complaint that confused Rory more than anything. “How was I ever supposed to-”

She stopped suddenly as she turned to see where the frisbee had landed and saw her granddaughter picking it up from the patio.

“You know, you kids should really be more careful with your toys,” she said as she walked over, looking at her grandparents rather than her children and wearing a smirk she just couldn’t help.

“Mommy!” Jack and Tori chorused as they both came running at her.

Rory was crouched down at their level to welcome them into her arms, hugging them both so tight. They talked all at once, asking after Mrs R, but also explaining about eating fancy chocolate cake and tossing the frisbee around. It was a wonder that Rory could make out any of the words, but she was so used to the cacophony of her kids voices in full-flow, she actually understood most of what was said.

“Wow, you guys have had a real fun afternoon, huh?” she said, craning her neck to look back at Richard and Emily. “Frisbee? Really?”

“I’ll have you know I was looked upon as quite the champion in my youth,” said Grandpa, reaching to adjust a tie he wasn’t actually wearing anymore.

“And I am no slouch myself,” Emily explained, “if other people were actually to throw properly,” she told her husband with a look.

“I hardly think it’s my fault that you could stand to grow a few inches, Emily.”

“Why you...” Emily began, only to take off actively chasing her husband across the lawn, waving the frisbee like she planned to hit him with it.

“Gan-Gan, silly!” Tori giggled.

“They’re just having fun, I guess,” said Jack, laughing just the same.

Rory watched her grandparents rushing around and around, with Richard finally giving up and allowing Emily to catch him, the two of them going to the ground in fits of giggles themselves.

“Yep, they’re having fun,” Rory agreed, smiling widely - it was something very nice to see.


	19. When I Look Back Upon My Life - 28th November 2041

It wasn’t the biggest apartment, but that was okay. Doula wasn’t one of those people who aspired to have everything, which was a good thing, because she couldn’t imagine it was ever going to happen! Still, she had to admit, standing there in the middle of her new place, that she had just now got looking like a real home, she had no regrets about moving in.

For all that had her life had been up to now, there wasn’t much Doula could actually find to regret at all. There were plenty of people who would wonder at that, she knew. Her behaviour hadn’t always been the greatest. Her upbringing was far from ideal. They more or less had enough money, but that didn’t always buy happiness. Still, as unreliable and sometimes downright useless her parents, Liz and TJ, could be, Doula always had support. She knew she was never really alone.

“Talk of the devil,” she said to herself, smiling as she answered the call. “Hey, big bro.”

“How’re things, D?” asked Jess, without preamble. “Everything okay in the new place?”

“Everything is great,” she promised him. “You know, you really do build bookshelves almost as well as Uncle Luke,” she told him, sitting down in her armchair and looking across at the unit on the other side of the room.

“I don’t think the ability to put together a kit from Sweden is really the same as actually building furniture,” her brother told her. “Luke is a craftsman, like his father. I just read instructions well.”

“That’s because you’re the smart one in the family.”

“Doula...”

He had this way of saying her name, like a warning but at the same time with so much love in it, it never failed to make her want to cry. Sometimes, she genuinely wondered where she would’ve ended up without her big brother, who always had her back. 

Sure, Rory and Luke and Lorelai played their parts, Doula could never say they didn’t, not to mention all the rest of her family - aunts, uncles, cousins and such that might not be blood related but mattered just as much. Still, it was always Jess who Doula went to in a crisis. Always him that came to her ultimate rescue when she needed him. Honestly, she would say he was more like a dad than a brother much of the time, except that would be a little too insulting to her actual father, she supposed.

“Hey, D!” Jess yelled in her ear, alerting her to the fact she had clearly zoned out and stopped answering him.

“Sorry,” she said, shaking her head.

“Don’t be sorry, just stop putting yourself down, okay?” said Jess firmly. “I hate it when you do that.”

“I’m not,” she assured him. “I was just joking before. Kind of, anyway. Come on, Jess, you know I’m never going to be as book-smart as you or Rory. It’s not me.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re stupid.”

“I know that. I honestly do.”

“Well, good, because you should. Stupid people don’t get the chance to produce their own fashion line, right?”

“That’s true,” she said, smiling widely. “I still keep on pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. It feels dream-like, you know?”

“I know. I used to do the same thing, way back when me and Rory got back together, then later, when the whole book publishing thing first happened. Neither one of us had the best start, D, but I think we got pretty lucky after that.”

Doula agreed with him, even though her heart ached when she thought about those rough beginnings that he spoke of. Their mother really wasn’t the worst person in the whole world, but God knows, she should never be allowed to raise children by herself. Liz had royally screwed up with Jess, Doula knew, and might have done the same with her too, given half the chance. Thankfully, that wasn’t allowed to happen.

“Now, I want you to remember I am still only ever a phone call away and it’s just a two-and-a-half hour drive down if you really need me for anything”

“Jess, I love how much you care about me, but I’m thirty-five years old,” she reminded him, with laughter in her voice. “I think I’m okay by myself.”

“D, you could be a _hundred_ and thirty-five, you’ll always be my little sister,” he told her definitely. “You need me, I’m there.”

Something caught in Doula’s throat, so much so that it took her a few calming breaths before she could reply. Even then she felt the need to make a semi-joke just to relieve the strain on what was becoming too serious a moment.

“Even when I’m a hundred and thirty-five, huh?”

“Even then... somehow,” Jess told her.

“That’s cool, big bro,” she said, a slight wobble in her voice that she couldn’t help. “I appreciate it, you know that, right?”

“I know,” he assured her. “So, you’re all good?”

“I’m all good, you can stop worrying.”

“Who’s worrying? I’m just calling you as an excuse, so I can delay doing paperwork for the diner.”

Doula laughed. “Well, I’m not about to be a bad influence on you, so go, do that work thing. I have my own stuff to do. Clothes don’t just design themselves, you know?”

“Take care of yourself, D.”

“You too, bro. I’ll check in again soon, I promise.”

They ended their call then, not with ‘I love you’ or anything so serious, though Doula was well aware that Jess’ phone call was all about how much he cared for her. He got her through some tough times. Brushes with the law, a brief dance with Mary Jane when she should’ve known better, scuzzy boyfriends too numerous to mention, and fights with the parents that got way out of hand.

Of course, in the end, Doula knew she had to stand on her own two feet. She had parents that loved her, a brother that would go to the ends of the earth for her, not to mention everybody else that she held dear, but when she turned thirty, Doula had decided it was time to really do something with her life. She dumped the latest crappy boyfriend, left Stars Hollow for the second time in her life, and determined to make something of herself before she went back for more than a flying visit.

“And I did it,” she said to herself, getting up and going over to the sloping desk by the window.

She ran her hands over the papers lying there, smiled as the sunlight played across the drawings on each page. Dresses, pants, shirts, all kinds of clothes in all kinds of colours and designs, but all identifiably of the same style. These were pieces by Doula and she couldn’t be more proud.

It hadn’t been easy. She was smart enough for school, more or less. Maybe not quite smart enough for a real top-notch college, but she probably could’ve got there sooner if she had applied herself. At eighteen, it just wasn’t going to happen, not with her home situation, her attitude, and her need to run.

Doula never thought she would be a mature student. She also never fully realised she had an aptitude for clothes design, not at first. She liked to doodle, but she was never in the leagues of people like Jaime Belleville. She appreciated clothes and could make a good outfit out of pieces other people might never think to tie together, but she just assumed lots of people could do that. Lorelai had taught her how to use the sewing machine and still it took Doula a while to realise what her true calling was.

“Well, now, I know,” she said to herself, moving her designs aside and seeking out the letter filed haphazardly somewhere underneath.

She certainly wasn’t the youngest person to be offered the chance to be an in-house designer for the chain. Doubtless she was not the first from a small town either, and certainly not the first woman. As far as the fashion world at large was concerned, Doula probably wouldn’t be particularly ground-breaking, but that was okay. Somebody liked her designs and believed in her enough to give her a chance. That was all she really needed or craved.

Her cell buzzed again and Doula jumped a little, pulled from her thoughts abruptly as she reached for the phone to see who was sending a message. She smiled when she saw Kwan’s name on the screen and immediately opened the text.

_I just heard about the job. Way to go! I’d wish you luck, but we both know you don’t need it :)_

She wasted no time in texting back and thanking him, but knew when that was done, she probably wouldn’t hear from him again for a good long while. Doula was okay with that. As a teen, she had been sure that Kwan Van Gerbig was the love of her life, and for a while, it had seemed like maybe she was right. They dated and it was fun, but ultimately, they just weren’t supposed to be.

On the boyfriend front, Doula had few regrets. At least her first real relationship had been with someone she still cared about and who still cared for her too, albeit as friends these days and no more. At least, for all the scuzzy guys that had walked through her life, leaving destruction and misery in their wake, Doula had never crumbled. She always, always came out stronger for the experience.

She had learned everything she needed to know about what not to do and who not to get close to when it came to dating. If she went leaping in with both feet again in the future, she was going to be damn sure the guy was worth it, and if she never found someone she could care about and trust that much, so be it. She was pretty sure she could be just as happy building a life all by herself.

“Well, maybe not entirely by myself,” she reminded herself, eyeing the pamphlets on the edge of her desk with a smile.

When she was younger, Doula would’ve sworn she could never stand the idea of having kids of her own. It was why it hadn’t mattered much when her relationships with guys never quite worked out. She wasn’t desperate for a family that way. She knew how bad things could get when you had kids unexpectantly or with a partner that turned out to be less than reliable. She didn’t want to go down that road.

Now that she finally had her own life in order, Doula started to think more about the future and what she wanted to fill her days with. The work part was all figured out, but when it came to kids, she had been giving some pretty serious consideration to adoption.

“Not yet,” she said, shoving the pamphlets aside. “Not quite.”

The job had to work out first. The apartment had to suit her. She had to know for sure that she was stable and secure and ready, because Doula would be damned if she would be the reason some poor kid, who had already been through enough, ended up in a worse mess than before. She had been there and done that and she wasn’t going to let anybody else suffer on her behalf.

Sitting back in her seat, Doula looked around at her surroundings and sighed a contented sigh.

It wasn’t the greatest of lives she had led, but that was okay. Doula wasn’t one of those people who expected to have everything, which was a good thing, because it had never worked out that way! Still, she had to admit, sitting there in the middle of her new place, looking forward to her new job and all kinds of possibilities still to come for her, she had absolutely no regrets about the life she had lived so far. That was something.


	20. I Got You Babe - 26th February 2005

Rory had thought she might get bored when the doctor put her on bed rest. Sure, she knew she could enjoy just lazing around all day for a while, but she was sure she would get bored if she had to do it for weeks on end. It actually turned out to be better than she thought.

Since nobody was prepared to leave her alone for more than five minutes in her state of heavy pregnancy, there was always somebody to talk to. Always good company in the form of her mom, Lane, Luke, Paris, Mrs R, Sookie, and any number of other folks who wanted to visit here and there. Rory was never lonely, to the point where she sometimes craved the chance to be alone.

At least, today, she got her wish. Not that she was by herself, of course, but when it was just her and Jess, those were some of her favourite moments. Naturally, they talked sometimes, or watched TV, or even made out a little, if Rory had the energy, but it was the quiet times like this that were so special.

Rory was laid in the bed, with Jess beside her, on top of the bedclothes, reading a book. She was happily leaned into his side, drifting a little, glad of his ability to hold the book and turn pages all with the same hand, so his arm could be around her, holding her close. She had one hand resting on her bump and was jolted out of half-way sleep when suddenly the baby kicked out at her.

“Wow, that was a big one,” she said, smiling as she looked down. “I think he suddenly woke up and wanted to remind us he was here.”

Without a word, Jess put his book aside and put his hand alongside Rory’s own. His son kicked for him too, making him smile.

“I’m starting to think he’s going to be athletic,” Jess considered. “Maybe good at football or martial arts or something.”

“Athletic?” Rory checked, peering up at him. “Where would that come from? Gym was the one class in high school that I never enjoyed and I know my mom isn’t into anything sports-wise. I don’t exactly remember you trying to letter in anything either,” she said with a look.

“I didn’t want to play sports in high school. Doesn’t mean I couldn’t have,” he told her, shaking his head. “Besides, look at Luke. He ran track back in the day. Used to be pretty good at baseball too, from what I heard.”

“Huh. Maybe he’ll take after Luke then,” said Rory, heaving a sigh as she settled down comfortably again now the kicking seemed to be over. “I want him to be like Luke and you, and also kind of like me and Mom. Sometimes, I try to picture what he’ll look like, but I can’t imagine a mix of us that way.”

“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see when he gets here.” Jess nodded. “Won’t be too much longer now.”

“Only the longest four and a half weeks of my life!” Rory complained. “I mean, I love our son already, I really do, and I’m glad we’re having him, but he sure is messing up my body right now.”

“Doesn’t look so bad to me,” Jess told her with a smirk, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

“You’re biased,” she reminded him, “and I don’t mean how I look exactly, even though I am pretty blimp-like right now. I mean all the aches and the pains, the acid reflux and the constant bathroom visits. Not to mention carrying the extra weight around. It’s exhausting.”

Jess hugged her closer and let his fingers run through her hair as he kissed the top of her head.

“If I could take some of the strain for you, you know I would,” he assured her. “As it is, all I can do is promise you that you’re still as beautiful as ever to me, and that in the end, it will all be worth it. At least that’s what they tell me.”

“I know that’s true.” Rory sighed. “Well, the worth it part. I still think you’re crazy to call me beautiful right now, but I’ll take it,” she said, smiling up at him. “I know it will be amazing when he’s finally here. Our son, little Jack Mariano.”

That part actually made Jess laugh and Rory had to ask what was so funny.

“It still blows my mind sometimes, you know, the fact we’re actually having a kid. Like in a couple of months, I could be walking through Stars Hollow pushing a baby carriage with my son in it. _My son_ , that’s so weird.”

“I know. Sometimes, I feel like that too. I think how everything is going to be so different. Christmas will revolve around our son. I’ll go to Yale and come home between classes to see our son. Kind of hits you right between the eyes every so often, doesn’t it?”

“It really does.”

They fell into a seemingly companionable silence then, though Jess’ mind was racing just a little. Sometimes, thinking about how things would be after the baby came made him happy. Other times, it freaked him out just a little. He supposed that was normal for most expectant parents, even if they were older and/or had planned to have kids.

All Jess knew for sure was that he was going to do his best by little Jack, from the second the kid was born, for as long as he lived. He wouldn’t run out like Jimmy did or put other people and other things first like Liz always had. He was going to be the very best father he could be, take a few leaves out of Luke’s book, and just do all he could to raise a decent kid.

“You ever wonder what he’ll be like later?” he asked Rory then, eyes fixed on the middle distance as he tried to picture it himself. “I mean, it’s tough to know what he’ll look like as a baby, but when he gets older, like school age, even high school age...”

“I like to think he’ll look like you,” Rory admitted. “Dark hair, dark eyes, amazingly gorgeous,” she said with a girlish giggle.

“See, now you just sound like you’re making fun,” Jess pointed out, tugging on her hair.

“I’m not!” she insisted. “But he should look like you, you’re his father.”

“Yeah, and you’re his mother,” he reminded her. “Just because he’s a boy doesn’t mean he can’t look more like you. Your hair, your eyes, your blinding smile.”

She turned to look at him and he couldn’t resist just kissing her.

Rory didn’t mind at all.

“How did trying to picture our son in the future turn into a lovefest?” she asked curiously.

“You and me alone is always a lovefest,” Jess reminded her, even if he did look uncertain about the actual phrasing, then just as quickly turned very serious. “You do know how much I love you, right?”

“Sure.” Rory nodded. “You’re still here, that proves something. This helps too,” she noted, holding up her left hand to show him the engagement ring sitting there on her third finger. “I’m not running either. I said yes to the proposal,” she reminded him. “That’s because I love you too, so much. Sometimes it seems crazy to me that I never told you that sooner. Honestly, it just took me a while to even admit it to myself.”

“I knew I loved you from the first second I saw you,” Jess told her honestly. “Well, I don’t know that I knew that’s what I was feeling exactly but... I knew my life was never going to be the same. I knew I didn’t want it to be.”

When he kissed her one more time, Rory was happy to sink into the moment for as long as it lasted. It was a good five minutes before they came up for air, and then, only because Jess’ watch started beeping.

“Damn it,” he cursed, pulling away. “I have to go to work.”

“Now?” Rory sighed. “I just got comfortable,” she said, just this side of whiny.

Jess smiled even as he untangled his limbs from hers. “Sorry, Ror, but if we’re gonna take half the profit from the diner, I’m not letting Luke down.”

“I know, and I don’t expect you to,” she agreed, watching as he switched out his creased and worn shirt for a clean one and then checked he had everything - wallet, keys, all the necessary things. “Who’s timetabled for Rory-sitting duty now?”

“Uh, good question,” Jess said, frowning slightly.

He reached into his back pocket and produced a piece of crumpled paper, checking the writing on it. It took him a minute to figure out where the right part of the list was and then he cursed.

“What’s wrong?” Rory checked.

“There’s nobody coming,” he admitted, face-palming at the realisation. “Your mom is tied up at the inn, Luke has to go to the suppliers. Lane was going to come over, but then the band got a gig-”

“Done,” said Rory, startling Jess to silence and making him stare at her wide-eyed. “I text Paris, she’ll be here in ten minutes,” she told him then, waving her cell phone in her hand. “It’s Saturday night, I knew she’d be home. Probably studying or maybe reading the Illiad for the fourth time. She’s happy to come do that here.”

“Never thought I’d hear myself say this but thank God for Paris Geller.” Jess shook his head in wonder as he grabbed for his jacket and prepared to leave. “You sure you’re okay for the next ten minutes?”

“Please, even I can survive that long without an emergency occurring.”

“I don’t like leaving you alone,” said Jess worriedly.

Rory smiled. “I’m never alone. He’s always here,” she reminded him, patting her pregnant belly.

Jess smiled too. “Okay, you two crazies take care of each other until Paris gets here.”

“And then we’ll be three crazies.” Rory giggled. “Go on, Hardworking Handsome Man,” she urged him then, as he leaned over and kissed her goodbye. “We’ll be right here waiting when you get home.”

“I’m counting the hours already,” Jess assured her, a sappy sentiment perhaps, and yet equally as true as anything else he ever said to his fiancée.

Rory watched him go, grinning all over her face.

“There goes Daddy,” she told the baby that wriggled around into a more comfortable position inside her. “He really loves us, you know, and I never loved anyone as much as I love him. We’re going to be so happy, the three of us all together,” she said in the direction of the bump. “Jess, me, and Jack makes three.”

One last kick against her hand before the baby settled down for the night seemed to be confirmation that he agreed with what his mommy was telling him. Maybe that was a crazy thought, but Rory didn’t care. She knew it wasn’t so foolish to think they were going to be a real happy family. That she believed implicitly and nobody was ever going to change her mind.


End file.
